Tales of the Immortal
by zeppoJane
Summary: What if Damon Salvatore was the "Immortal" mentioned when Buffy and Dawn were to be living in Rome. There's no Elena and no Stephen. Dawn's studying to be a watcher and just needs some non-slayer related time, while Damon just wants Katherine back.
1. Chapter 1

Buffy looked up into Spike's beautiful face and smiled even though the tears were brimming in her eyes. Their hands were wrapped together, his face lighted up not with sunlight but with something that was just… Spike. He turned towards her and she finally let the words she had held back for so long to spill from her lips. "I love you." He smiled just a bit even though there was a deep aching pain behind that smile.

"No you don't, but thanks for saying it." Even though he says this they both know he's wrong. Buffy loves him more than anything else in the world but its too late for them, the worlds literally crumbling down around them. "Now go!" he shouts and she gives him a terse nod and runs. The bus is already speeding away but Buffy runs after it anyways never stopping, never hesitating, even as the ground shakes and collapses in upon itself just behind them. They make it clear. They've won, they've changed the world, and they've lost everything all in one day.

Dawn sat patiently in their hotel room waiting for Buffy to finish her shower. They had been there nearly a week and already everyone else had taken off. The new slayers split off into separate directions to rejoin with their various families. Giles returned to England and thankfully took Andrew with him. Willow and Kennedy were on their way to Rio de Janero, and Xander decided to do some soul searching in the wilds of Africa. Even Faith had headed towards Boston with Robin in tow. Buffy and Dawn were the only ones left to decide where they wanted to go.

Buffy came out of the bathroom her wet hair splayed out around her robe clad shoulders. She plopped down next to Dawn on the queen bed they had been sharing. "What's up Dawnie? You not in a TV watching mood?"

Dawn looked up at her sister "Nah… I was kinda hoping we could talk…" Buffy looked confused and a bit concerned. Dawn was rarely ever so serious, "It's just everyone's gone Buffy, and we don't exactly have a home left to go to… I was just… I wanna know what you had in mind for our futures, cause living in a motel… so not gonna happen."

Buffy took a deep breath before answering, "I know. I've been thinking about that a bit myself and I think with the money I've saved up combined with the insurance money from the house… we could go anywhere we wanted… so maybe we could decide together." She smiled at Dawn. She just wanted her sister to know that she had a choice here, she wasn't just going to be dragged along for the ride.

"Not L.A." Dawn's voice was stern and for just a second she saw a swirling flash of emotions go through her sisters face. "There's just too much baggage there Buffy, so that one's definitely out of the picture."

Buffy accepted her little sister's ability to bluntly point out a topic that left her reeling, "okay… but we're not going to England either."

Dawn smiled, "agreed…. Europe might be nice in general though. You know some place that has history."

"When I was young, you know before all the slayer stuff, I wanted to move to Rome," the slayer smiled at the idea of how innocent her dreams had been.

"Yah and you wanted to marry Christian Slater too," they both laughed at this. "Well, if you still wanna go there, Rome works for me." They smiled at each other. Rome may not have been the best or most logical choice but they both slept a lot better that night knowing they had at least made one.

Dawn finished pulling her blue jeans out of their shipping box and began hanging them up in her new closet. The apartment she was sharing with Buffy here in Rome was small yet elegant. Her room was a lovely lilac purple color with plush gray carpet, and white trim. She still had three more boxes to go when Buffy popped her head in the door. "Hey Dawn, I love what you're doing with the place," Buffy smiled glad to see her sister accepting the drastic change so well.

"Yah, this room is pretty awesome," Dawn smiled back openly. "I'll help you unpack in the kitchen when I get done okay."

"Ah, no rush Dawnie. Actually I'm starving so I thought I'd try to drag you out for dinner and then we could finish unpacking the rest tomorrow."

Dawn tossed the rest of her jeans back in the box and grabbed her. "Sounds great. I could really do with a break," she laughed as they left the apartment.

They sat a small diner six blocks away and tried to figure out what to order. Dawn had already learned some pretty passable Italian but Buffy was struggling as usual. "You know," Buffy paused with slightly pouted face. "I'm starting to think that moving to a non-American speaking country was of the bad." Her brow furrowed as she tried to decipher the menu. In the end Dawn ordered for her, and they both laughed and joked about Dawn's lingual talents.

They fell quiet as Dawn reflected on her sister's seeming closeness even though, she could tell the jovial attitude was just a mask. She chose not to say anything about it yet, after all the love of Buffy's life had just died less than three weeks ago.

Buffy was quiet herself as she regarded how her younger sister was growing up. In the last year Dawn had been braver and more mature than Buffy had been at times. And now with Dawn's Junior year of high school looming in two weeks and her beginnings at officially studying to be a watcher, Buffy wondered how Dawn would ever manage to actually enjoy her youthful life. "Dawn,… are you sure you can handle all this?"

Dawn looked up at Buffy from the heaping plate of pasta that had just been laid in front of her, "well even if I can't I'm sure I can get a doggy bag."

Buffy looked surprised and then realized that Dawn hadn't understood what she had meant. "I meant with the new country, and new school, and watcher's training. Plus you should be able to enjoy time with friends.. And maybe a boyfriend…" Buffy seemed very tentative to allow the last to ever occur.

The sweet brunette chewed her food slowly before answering, "Yah, I mean school's school, and I'm adapting to the move pretty well… at least I think so.. Plus I have to make friends before I can spend time with any… I don't intend to date, so yes, you can go ahead and sigh with relief," Buffy promptly did so with a slightly breathy chuckle. "And I won't actually be dealing with any slayers, other than you, at least not until I've like finished college, and that's a ways away."

Buffy nodded, "alright, I guess it sounds like you've got it pretty figured out then."

Dawn laughed, "I always do."

Damon Salvatore was over one thousand years old, he was one of the most powerful vampires in the world, and yet here he was having to argue with one simple human lawyer. Ilona might have been the one running the multi-dimensional wonder that was Wolf Ram & Hart but she was a tool for wielding their power. He had spent the last three weeks trying to squeeze in a few minutes with her and had finally resolved into chasing her down at the Roma Bibliotequa de Augurs when she was doing charity work.

Ilona was beautiful woman no doubt about it, she was big breasted, and had perfect lips with perfect hair, skin and clothes to match. But in truth her personality left a lot to be desired. She pretended to be as sweet as honey but could turn around and strike just like a viper. It reminded him of Katherine actually, which was his entire reason for doing any of this. Some stupid monks had locked her in a tomb and sealed it with magic nearly eight centuries prior. He had to get her out, it was just that simple.

"Look Ilona, I know you've got to have some magicky person on your payroll that can break the seal on the tomb for me. And you know I contribute enough favors and financial rollover to the law firm that doing me this one little itty bitty favor in return should be nothing at all."

Ilona was going to be late to her meeting with the Go'blar demons representative. They would not behave kindly if she was, "I'm sorry Mr. Salvatore but I've already discussed with the Senior Partners and they feel that considering Katherine's malicious tendencies it would be best if she was simply left there."

Damon quickened his pace to match the lawyers, "what? No. I can't just leave her there, especially not after working so long and hard trying to find a way to get her out."

Ilona stopped suddenly and answered Damon directly, "the only way we would be willing to help you open that tomb is if we were opening it just to turn around and kill Katherine ourselves. I'm sorry Damon, but there's really nothing I can do." The tough Italian in her forced her to turn and rush away to her meeting.

Damon raced to catch up to her again but was suddenly hindered when a lean young woman fell on him.

Dawn had been looking for a text on H'Rash'Na demons at the library for the last two hours. Finally found it but it was on an extremely high shelf, nearly twelve feet up. Dawn sighed and thanked every god she knew that she was both tall and wearing six inch heels that day. She stretched upward but the book still fell just out of reach so Dawn quickly snatched a small step stool from two aisles down and clambered up to reach it. The book was finally in her grasp and she was just resting back on her heels when she heard the snap of her left heel and her feet went out from under her. She flew backwards and landed right on top of something that definitely felt lumpier than the floor would. "Ooof… Sorry.." Dawn managed to look up at the body she had fallen on… God he was stunning.

The man sprawled out part way under her looked like a Roman god. He had raven black hair and piercing blue-green eyes. His face, no his entire body seemed to be chiseled from stone. He was tall and lean, but the muscles trapped within his well tailored shirt hinted at his underlying strength. Everything about him was just plain sexy. Dawn wasn't sure a person could get any hotter and then she heard his voice.

"Figures she'd run off." All Dawn could think was, _hey that was in English_.

Damon pulled himself out from under the strange girl that had landed on him and mumbled to himself as he noticed that Ilona had slipped off already. He couldn't help but look down at the person who had hindered his argument for Katherine's freedom, there was a distinct displeasure in his eyes. Or rather there was until he took full notice of the body now laying sprawled at his feet. She was an ivory skinned beauty, tall and willowy, but now awkward. There seemed to be a quiet grace about her and core of unshakable strength. She had long, curling, dark brown hair, and the palest blue eyes he had ever seen on anyone that wasn't blind. She wore a yellow sweater with a burnt orange skirt, matching knee high socks, and he nearly laughed because she was wearing black stilettos with it all. One of the heels was broken, probably what had caused her to topple onto him as he had walked past. He could see a few inches of smooth pale skin where her skirt had slipped up just beyond where he sock ended. Gorgeous, that was the only word he could think of to describe the beauty before him.

Damon reached a hand down to help her up, though he wasn't certain why, and when she took his hand it felt like a fire was twirling and licking just under his skin where their flesh met. "So…" he drawled, "you find what you were looking for? Or did you peek where you shouldn't and get scared?" The girls eyes flashed up at him at the last with pure fire and defiance. He couldn't help but think that she would be a glorious fuck, there was just something about the passion in her eyes.

She reached down and picked up her book, that's when he noticed it was a book on H'Rash'Na demons. What on earth would such a pretty little thing like this be doing with a demonology text? He inhaled sharply trying to gauge more of her scent. There was the smell of blueberries and lilacs and… humanity. Maybe she was budding witch, he nearly laughed at the idea.

Then he noticed she was talking, answering him it seemed, and she was American. "Yes, and once again sorry for falling on you so rudely. Excuse me." Her voice was sweet and rich, like the blood of someone who's eaten too many sweets in their lifetime. He turned and watched the beauty head towards the check out line with a perplexed look on his face. There was something special about this girl, he could just feel it. Maybe he should follow her, fuck her, eat her, maybe both at the same time… Either way he couldn't just walk away yet.

Dawn pulled her light summer jacket around her a bit tighter and started the walk back to her apartment. She was glad she had an innate sense of direction, otherwise all the twist and turns of the ancient European city would have gotten her completely lost. It was just an hour after sunset but Dawn knew all the vampires, and demons in this town would be out already. That was fine, she had a nice sharp stake in her pocket just in case. Still someone, or something was following her, she could practically feel it as she made her way through the twisting streets and walk ways.

Suddenly the thing that she had been waiting for happened, three vampires stepped out of the shadows and began to surround her. The one she supposed was their leader looked like some stereotypical Italian porn star, he had a hair chest peaking through the open collar of his cheesy patterned shirt, white slacks on, greased back hair and a mustache. Dawn took a deep breath and fought the impulse to roll her eyes. The one on her left said something about her that sounded like "pretty little thing" but she wasn't sure.

The taller guy to her right moved in to attack first and she quickly staked him.

Damon had been following her for the better part of any hour when he noticed that three other vampires had joined the hunt. They hadn't noticed him though, and he was about to jump in and save her for himself when one of them charged her, only to promptly turn to dust. The girl carried a stake, how interesting. He sat back in the shadows and watched as she took on the other two by herself. Damon had to say he was pretty impressed the girl wasn't doing to bad, especially with a broken high heel. She managed to stake to another when the third knocked the stake out of her hand and she went sprawling. He nearly rushed out of the shadows to help her when a the third vampire burst into an explosion of dust and ash. A short tan blond now stood over where the brunette lay, stake in hand. Now who was this one? More so where had the brunette learned to move like that?

"I was wondering what was keeping you?" the new comer said as she helped the taller brunette up off the ground and smiled ironically at her. "You okay Dawnie?"

_Her name is Dawnie? _Damon thought it was just too cute and ironic to be true.

Dawn brushed the dirt and grime off her coat and picked up her book bag. "Yah." She looked around the darkened street at what was left of her attackers and giggled a bit, "teach them to mess with the Summers girls." The blond burst out laughing and the two went strolling down the street arm in arm.

_Dawnie… Summers was it? I've got to know more about this girl. _Damon turned and walked away himself.

Damon stood drinking his blood and bourbon cocktail in the study and spoke to Ilona over the phone. "No don't worry about Ilona I'll find another way to get Katherine back. But you know there is one thing you could do to get back in my good graces again… " He could here Ilona taking a deep and anxious breath on the other end of the phone and it brought a mischievous smirk to his handsome face. "Find me everything you can about a woman I met tonight, her name's Dawnie Summers. And Ilona, I do mean _everything_ on her," he hung up before Ilona could manage even another syllable. Damon drank down the rest of his dinner and tried to focus on ways to get Katherine back but Dawnie's blue-eyed stare kept floating in his mind's eye.


	2. Chapter 2

"This doesn't look like any school I've ever been to," Buffy quipped with a slight pout.

Dawn took a deep breath and nodded in agreement with her sister, "yah, well this is Rome. I guess a lot of stuff isn't going to look anything like what we're used to."

The blond smiled, "have a good day and uh… no zombie ghost things this year okay…"

Dawn rolled her eyes and made her way to the schools offices. She had to admit Buffy was right, this was nothing like California. Well no, that wasn't exactly true, the people were a lot alike. The popular girls all had tan skin, big boobs, and perfect hair. The guys wore jerseys, even if they were for soccer and not for football. Except here it was football and soccer didn't exist. Dawn frowned, maybe she was just too American to fit in.

The whole building was basically a giant apartment building only instead of apartments to live in they were classrooms. This was going to drive her nuts, she sighed.

The whole day she was thankfully ignored by the teachers and the only time any of the students paid attention to her was when they would whisper jokes about how prudish Americans were or how arrogant she must be. By her final period history class she was thoroughly wishing she hadn't bothered learning any Italian.

"Hello class, my name is Alaric Saltzman," her history teacher wrote his name on the board as everyone sat down in their seats and the class began. Dawn was never so glad to hear a bell in her life when the class ended but her teacher stopped her before she took off. He was a somewhat cute and fairly young man considering, with light brown hair and a five-o-clock shadow. "Sorry to hold you from the rest of your day Dawn but I just thought I'd stop you and see how your first day was going."

Dawn's jaw nearly dropped, Alaric Saltzman was unmistakably American himself. "You're American," she stuttered out like an idiot.

Mr. Saltzman just chuckled at this, "yes… Yes I am. I noticed on your transcripts that you were too."

"Um… yah." She was still utterly amazed and happy to realize she wasn't the only one in this ancient city.

He started packing up his briefcase, "so how do you like Rome so far? I know it's a big change, but I'm sure we'll both do just fine here."

Dawn nodded and was about to ask him how long he'd been there to not show any hint of an American accent when he spoke Italian but her phone rang. "I'm sorry Mr. Saltzman but I've gotta take this. It was nice meeting you though." Dawn rushed off knowing that if Buffy was calling her like this it was very important to have their conversation in privacy.

She quickly left the building and started on her way home while answering her sister's call. "Hey Buffy. What's up?" She didn't even notice Damon standing across the street watching her every move.

26 A.D.

Damonius Salvatore couldn't help but smile back at the beauty before him. Her name was Katherine Del Monche, she was a dark hair angel from the northern territories, very close to the Gaul. Her olive skinned glowed in sunlight and her smile was equally as bright. She was laughing at him for asking her how a demon of the night could possibly look so pretty in the light of day. Everything about Katherine was perfect in his eyes. She was the only one he could ever love.

Present Day

Damon polished off the top of his signet ring, remembering when Katherine had first gifted it to him. Just hours before she killed him and brought him back all the better. It had been nearly two thousand years and he still could remember every detail of his time with her. He had loved her all that time, she was his everything. But the Order of Brashit monks had locked her away in a tomb, sealed magically so she could never leave. He had slaughtered them all centuries ago when they had utterly refused to free her. Damon was still looking though, still determined that one day he would break the seal and be reunited with the woman he loved.

Michael, his top goon, an overly tall and bulky man with an equally big mustache and bald head walked in the room and handed him the file he had been waiting for. "Thank you, Michael. You can take off for now."

Damon sank down onto his plush velvet sofa and opened the file Wolf Ram & Hart had compiled on Dawn Summers, not "Dawnie."

He carefully scanned each page of the file and smirked when he noticed that her mother used to call her "pumpkin belly." Her mother, Joyce died two and half years ago from post-op complication, her father had left them when she was nine, and she hadn't seen him since she was eleven. _Wow, what kind of ass just abandons his kids like that? _

He kept scanning, her older sister and legal Guardian, Buffy, was the slayer. _Guess that would explain where she learned to fight. _Her best friends were some idiot girl Janice, and Spike. _Spike? As in the vampire who had killed two slayers? Well someone's rebellious. _

"Dawn Summers was created approximately three years ago, from the blood of the slayer to contain and protect the Key from hell god Glorificus." Damon paused when he read this.

The rest of the file also mentioned that Dawn had just spent a year helping her sister fight against the first evil. She was trained in basic witchcraft, melee combat, and was excellent with foreign languages, primarily Sumerian and Turkish. _My, my, my… _Damon thought. _What a girl… _

Dawn met her sister at the new training studio they had gotten for her and the other girls. Buffy was dodging around Cassandra, one of the new slayers, as they fought. "So… Dawn… How was your first day of school?" Buffy was a little breathless but clearly not needing to exhibit any great amount of effort.

Dawn looked around at all the other girls who paired up fighting and going through their general training practices. "It was okay…" Dawn trailed off. In truth the day had been stressful, she could really uses a break and she knew it.

"That doesn't sound good Dawnie. Why don't you go out have some slayer free time Hun."

Dawn gave her sister a half smile, "yah okay. I think I might need it."

Buffy nodded, rolled her shoulders and jumped back into the fight. "Yah, just make sure you're home by midnight."

Dawn wondered the city for awhile before finally just heading into a small night club/ bar by herself. She sat alone at the bar and ordered a plain coke with ice. Looking around the crowded bar and taking in the happenings around her, Dawn noticed that the hot guy she had fallen on last week at the library was in the back corner with two super model hot women. Both were tan, tall and had huge boobs. But of course a hottie like that would be surrounded by women equally as beautiful. Dawn frowned, not sure why she even cared. The man looked up at her and automatically caught her eye, his eyes seemed to be piercing right through her even from across the room. The smile on his face was deviously sexy, not even Spike had been able to pull off a smile like that.

The bartender leaned over the bar next to Dawn, she was short and plain woman, unadorned with either makeup or jewelry. "That's the Immortal honey. Best leave him alone, he's got money, power, and sex appeal but from what I've seen. In the long run, its just not worth it."

Dawn looked back at her, "the Immortal? What's that mean?"

The bartender shook her head, "don't know baby girl, that's just what they call him." She began wiping down the bar. Dawn quickly paid for her drink and headed home. Even if she never saw the guy again, she still thought the "Immortal" sounded pretty paranormal.

Damon had been staring straight into Dawn Summer's icy blue eyes when one of the harlots on his arm leaned her chest into to him and proceeded to suckle his ear lobe. "I know what you are, and I don't mind. I'd love to feed you tonight."

He smiled down at her with one of his mischievous smiles, "I just bet you would." He looked up to see what his little brunette would make of their exchange only to find that she had gone. He surveyed the crowd but she was no where to be found, Damon frowned as a wave of disappointment hit him.

Buffy wasn't home when Dawn let herself in. _Thank God_. She really didn't want to have to deal with her sister right now. Dawn went directly to her room and sat down in front of her laptop, she wasn't sure what to look for so she tried simply googling it. Her jaw nearly hit the ground when she actually found some helpful sights.

The Immortal of Rome was one of the oldest and most powerful vampires in the world. _Figures the first cute guy I meet is a friggin' vamp_. He was rich, charming, stayed out trouble; no run ins with any slayers, and he even killed anyone that came to Rome looking to stir up to much trouble. Dawn shook her head amazed by what she had found on him. Still when she came across and old black and white photo of him, she couldn't stop thinking about how incredibly hot he was.

Buffy pulled away from Greg or George or what his name was that she had just had sex with. He was already rolling over to go to sleep and she had no intention of staying anyway. She got dressed and let herself out, all the while home thinking that the sex sucked. The sex always sucked though, cause as hard as she tried to get close to someone nothing would ever compare to what she had felt for Spike. Not even her past with Angel compared. She sighed as she felt that old familiar ache flare up again. Dawn didn't understand, she knew Buffy needed time, but she hadn't been in love. And without love you just couldn't understand.

Damon sat up in bed the next night and looked at the three girls laying there. This wasn't right. They weren't the ones he wanted, he wanted Katherine; though he was sure that Dawn would make a fun bed fellow as well. Damon called Michael in to dispose of the three ladies and went to take a shower. Tonight he had to find the young Miss Summers and enlist her help in releasing Katherine from his tomb. He wasn't going to let her slip away from him again.

Dawn was back at he library researching basic entity creation magic when Damon found her again. Tonight her hair was pulled up in a sloppy braid and she wore blue jeans with a red tank and leather jacket. She looked up for all of two seconds when Damon approached her and then seemed to dismiss him all together. He figured he'd just launch right in with the charm anyway, "Hello Miss Summers."

Dawn rolled her eyes but continued on with what she was reading. "Don't bother."

He was utterly astounded, no one, especially no woman just dismissed him like this. "What?"

Finally Dawn looked straight up into his eyes, it sent a small shiver down both their spines. "I know what you are, who you are.. And put simply… I'm not that kind of girl so… Don't bother."


	3. Chapter 3

The glass doors of the shower were steamed over from the heat beyond. Buffy stood still under the spray and let the water wash away the tears. She had dreamed about Spike last night, he was alive but couldn't get back to her. In the dream he was glued to Angel, literally and no matter what they tried they couldn't get unstuck. Every time she dreamed of him it just left her aching when she woke. Finally her tears stopped and she climbed out of the shower to get ready for another day.

After Damon had approached her in the library and she had tried to ignore him, Dawn had finally succumbed to his charm and agreed to meet him at an outdoor café this morning. Dawn had never thought he would or could show, she had purposely set the location and time when she knew he couldn't meet her. So when he walked right up to her table in full sunlight and sat across from her she nearly choked on her coffee.

Damon smiled at her, an appealing upturning of his lips at the corners of his mouth. Well, it was more of a smirk than a real smile. "Wow, you showed. How did you manage to show?" Dawn was in no mood to play around with him. It wasn't lost on her that a vampire that could walk around in the day was apparently stalking her.

He held up an elegant hand with a rather large signet ring on it, "I have a ring."

She remembered the story about how Spike had tried to get the ring of Ammara so he could walk around in the sunlight. "I thought that Ammara guy only had the one."

Damon raised a brow at her and smiled again. "He did."

"That ring was destroyed like four years ago in L.A."

He ordered a coffee and sat back watching her, "was it?"

She shook her head, "that," she pointed to his ring, "is not the ring of Ammara. So what is it?"

He leaned forward across the table and Dawn couldn't help but notice how his leather coat bunched around the taut muscles of his biceps underneath. "Are you always this blunt?"

Dawn took a second to think about it, "yes."

He just nodded at her answer. "My ring was made before that Houdini wanna-be was even born. A sorceress made it a very long time ago somewhere in China. Don't know how though, she was dead by the time mine was given to me. It just allows me to be a bit more naughty than most vampires."

"How do you know who I am?" Dawn asked without preemptive.

"I have my ways… pumpkin belly." He was teasing her with her mother's nick-name. It wasn't lost one her to say the least.

Her bottom lip jutted out in a slight pout as she thought over his answer. "So… Why are following me?" He wondered if she realized how incredibly attractive she looked when she did that.

Damon took a sip of his coffee, "Because the woman who gave me this is imprisoned and you're going to help me get her out." If Dawn could be blunt then so could he.

"Okay, stop me if I'm wrong here… But I'm assuming that she was imprisoned for a reason, and there would be some pretty powerful magics keeping her locked in right? Cause she's a demon like you?" Damon nodded but allowed Dawn to continue. "That would also mean if she were released people would probably end up dead, like a lot of them… So.. Yah, why on earth would I help you?"

"Everything you have belongs to your sister. This wouldn't."

"Not everything in my life is about Buffy," she snapped.

It was his turn to laugh, "yes it is. Your first kiss was a vampire, he thought you were special cause he sensed that you were the slayer's sister. Your first crush and best friend, Spike, only hung around with you so he could screw her. All your 'friends,' Willow, Xander, Giles; all of them were only around because of her. Hell your chosen career path as a watcher even belongs to her. I mean can you honestly say you would be training to be a watcher if your sister was anyone else? The very body you inhabit was made from her blood Dawn." Damon stopped with his tirade as he noticed the angry tears welling up in Dawn's cerulean stare. He got up and went to kneel beside her chair, but she wouldn't meet his eyes. Damon grabbed her lower jaw and forced her to look at him, and again that strange burning, tingling, heat flowed between them where their skin met. "Everything in your life up until this point has belonged to Buffy. This doesn't have to. You can choose to do something that has nothing to do with her or slayers or anything else."

Her eyes searched his own for a moment before she pulled away and called their waiter over. Damon moved back to his own chair sensing that her brief moment of vulnerability had passed. "Look… I'm not a witch or a sorceress or anything so even if I did, and I'm not saying that I am, but even if I did agree to help you I'm not even sure I could."

"I am."

Dawn shook her head like his confidence in her was entirely misplaced. "You don't know that Mr. Salvatore."

"It's Damon. And yes I do. You could help me if you chose to Dawn." He was practically growling at her. For some reason her lack of self confidence irritated him greatly.

She paid the bill for both of them and grabbed her bag. "I… Give me a day to think about it?… And I'll let you know."

"How will you find me?"

She smiled and for a split second there he actually thought she might be flirting with him. "I have my ways Mr. Salvatore." He was about to tell her to call him Damon again when she walked off on her own suddenly. Damon stared after her as she walked away, _mmm, _

_nice ass. _

The suspension chains hanging from the roof of the factory snapped and clanged together as Buffy was thrown through the air into them. She went flying and then skidded down twenty feet from where she had been fighting the demon. It was a nasty bugger, with rounded lumps surrounding most of its form and a slick slime that managed to coat everything it touched. This walking mucus factory had been slipping into children's room and eating their toes for weeks now. She shook her head not sure how anything could get so big by just eating baby toes, but hey wasn't her diet anyway.

She did a somersault and grabbed one of the low hanging chains, pulling it down further. The demon rushed towards her, all flailing limbs and screeching noises. Buffy quickly side stepped its initial attack and wrapped the chain around its neck from behind. She hung it up and waited until she was sure it was done flailing around before she shrugged and took off. That was a pretty good fight but she was still super tense, as usual.

Buffy didn't even notice that three more of the demons stood back behind some of the heavier machinery watching her.

Buffy stood in front of her mirror and tried to make sure she didn't have mom hair. It was parent teacher night and she wanted to make a good impression.

Dawn came up behind her, "don't worry you have responsible guardian hair and not I'm your mother missy hair."

Buffy smirked at Dawn as turned around to face her. There was something wrong though, "what's wrong?"

Her younger sister turned away and carefully fingered her bed spread for a minute. "It's just I've been thinking over what you said the other day, about slayer free time. And I think that'd be nice…. I mean just for tonight at this parent teacher thing… if you could just be my sister…"

She gathered Dawn into her arms, "of course honey. I promise it's just gonna be a nice normal parental nightmare for both of us." Dawn giggled and nodded.

Buffy kept staring around at everything as if she wasn't sure if she was really in a high school. Dawn looked back at her and smiled, she was so lost. They'd met three of her teachers already and Buffy's Italian was still so bad Dawn was pretty sure the teachers were utterly appalled by her.

Oh, there's one she can actually talk to at least. Mr. Saltzman waved and headed over towards where they were standing. "Oh Buffy, this is my history teacher Mr. Saltzman. He's from America like us."

Buffy snapped to like someone had said that the walls were made from chocolate and Dawn had to fight back another giggle. "Hi, I'm Buffy Summers. Dawn's sister."

He smiled at her and Dawn thought it looked pretty flirtatious, "Alaric Saltzman."

"Well isn't that a mouthful," Buffy said.

He just laughed at her, "yes and Buffy's not a strange name at all."

She laughed right back, and Dawn smiled happy to hear that it was actually sincere.

The three mucous dripping toe eaters from last night were surrounding the front walk out in front of the school. Tonight they would have their vengeance.

The whole night was seeming to go very well, Buffy was just happy to give her sister what she so clearly needed. Plus she was actually having a good time, just getting to talk to Alaric. He was a nice and genuinely normal guy, and he didn't stump her on bits of history she knew nothing about. The night was coming to an end, and Alaric and she had already swapped numbers. You know, incase Dawn ever needed help with her history or something. _Not likely, she's a whiz at that stuff. _

Buffy was about to call Dawn over and get ready to leave when she heard a scream behind her. Demons, three of the booger toe eater things from the other night. She sighed knowing how much this would bother Dawn, but she couldn't just walk away and let them harm anyone. They'd just come back for her later anyway.

Buffy quickly moved into action dispatching them easily enough. Granted everyone was staring at her even Alaric. She pursed her lips and rushed Dawn out of there. She couldn't deal with either of them right now. She just had to get home.

Dawn allowed Buffy to drag her home and held her tongue when she noticed the panicked tears nearly welling up in her sisters eyes. When they walked through their apartment door Dawn slowly stripped her jacket off trying to think of what to say.

"I'm so sorry Dawn." It broke Dawn's heart to hear her hero sound so very defeated.

"It's not your fault."

Buffy moved around her trying to catch her eyes, "but I promised you there would be no slayer stuff tonight… and I'm sorry."

Dawn shook her head and looked at her sister seriously. "Look I know you can't stop being the slayer Buffy. And I wouldn't want you to either. I appreciate what you tried to do for me tonight but I think I need some… time. You know, me time… Do you know what I mean? I just need to do something that's… all mine…"

Buffy smiled at her sister, "if that's what you need I'm all for it Dawnie. I just want you to be happy."

The taller brunette ran her fingers through her hair, tousling it. "God that was some parent teacher night," she laughed. "Plus you got Mr. Saltzman's number." Dawn smiled at her sister, happy their tense moment was over.

Buffy blushed, "yah. He's nice."

"Mhm. Well I'm gonna go take a shower and head off to bed. And… uh, Buffy, wait until tomorrow to call him okay." Her sister just laughed.

Damon stood alone in his shower letting the hot water pound down upon his shoulders. Of all the invention of the modern world the shower and hot running water were among his favorites. The tightness that was coiled in him needed a special attention. Damon's hand slicked down his hard abs to wrap around his already hard member. He rolled is head back as he began its pumping. He went slow though as his mind kept dancing from his old memories of Katherine to his fresher ones of Dawn. Damon groaned as he envisioned her looking up at him, her lower lip pouting out begging him to let her pull him into that luscious mouth of hers. He pumped harder as he thought of the way she would probably compete for who got to ride who. His control was slipping as he saw that ivory skin spread out before him, her dark hair spread out across his bed and her blue yes staring back at him. He could nearly hear her purring his name as he exploded.

Damon shuddered for a moment before he finished cleaning up and threw a towel around his waist. He moved quickly into the other room as he heard his phone ringing.

"Hello," he answered, not recognizing the answer.

There was a pause on the other end of the phone, "um….hi. It's Dawn…. Are you okay? Your voice sounds weird…"

Damon grunted as his cock twitched at the sound of her voice, "yah. I'm fine, just got out of the shower."

Again a pause, "I just called cause I have my answer…"

Damon didn't like the sound of that, his brow furrowed and he frowned. "And?"

"I'll do it… But I have a few conditions."

"And they are?"

He could hear her soft sigh on the end of the line. "One: No one ever knows that I'm helping you. Like ever for any reason. Two: You don't pick a fight with my sister or let any of your minions or whatever do so either. I mean really no hurting or threatening her or any other slayer for that matter. And three: Once Katherine's free you take her and leave Rome and don't come back again."

Damon thought over her requests, "alright it's a deal."

"Okay. Um.. Okay, goodnight Mr. Salvatore." She hung up on him after that. But that was okay, cause he'd be seeing her again very soon.


	4. Chapter 4

It was Friday night at last, Dawn had kept him waiting for three days already since she had agreed to help him. Tonight she was coming over to finally get started on freeing Katherine. Dawn knocked on the door at precisely one minute to seven, just when she was supposed to arrive. Prompt, Damon noted. He opened the door for her and then realized it was raining out side. Pouring point of fact and she was soaked to the bone.

Her damp hair was matted down around her shoulders and she looked even paler than before. Still she was too wet to have just walked in from her car. "Why the heck are you so wet Dawn?"

She stared at him with a funny look as she walked in and wiped her feet. "I missed the bus," she sighed.

Damon called to have a towels brought for her, "you don't have a car?"

"No, I'm the average-middle-class-American-seventeen-year-old-living-in-Rome Mr. Salvatore, we don't own cars," Dawn replied blandly as she flopped onto his expensive Victorian couch. "Nice place," she commented looking around for a moment.

Damon nearly growled at her, that sofa had priceless velvet upholstery and had cost him twelve thousand dollars. He took the towels from his maid and handed them to Dawn without saying a word to the young girl. He turned to pour himself a glass of scotch and kept repeating to himself, _she's helping me get to Katherine, she's helping me get to Katherine_. Damon sighed, "would you like a drink?"

"I don't drink," she answered.

"Prudish watcher," he mumbled to himself as he turned, drink in hand to face her and nearly choked on his words. Dawn had removed her coat and was wearing a billowing purple shirt that laced up at the front collar. He could see the her chest shadowed and outlined where the collar fell partly open, and her long legs were hugged tightly by her black leggings. Tonight Dawn Summers looked undeniably sexy.

Dawn just stood there drying her hair with a towel for a moment, completely unaware of him watching her. Finally Dawn tossed the towel on the couch where she'd left her coat. "Okay, lets get started then."

Damon motioned with his glass for her to follow him. "We can work in the library."

She kicked her wet and muddy boots off next to his couch and padded down the hallway after him in just her socks. "You have a library?"

If Damon didn't know better he'd say that she sounded wistful almost. He smiled, _the girl must like books_, then again he had met her in a library twice already. He looked back at her for a moment wondering what she'd make of the place before pushing open the double doors and leading her through. Damon's library consisted of three stories filled with books, there were stair ways leading to offset landings and sliding ladders that climbed up the walls. A fire place roared along one wall with a set of sofa's and chairs in front of it. There were two large desk and several tables piled with books, papers, essays, and a few trinkets. The high vaulted ceiling above it all held a glittering chandelier to light the room. Damon had a laptop set and printer hooked up on one desk, while the other was for writing.

He heard her sharp intake of breath behind him. "Just like in Beauty and the Beast," she whispered.

"What?"

Dawn shook her head, making her long dark hair caress her shoulders in the sexiest way. "Nothing. Where can I work at?" She stood bag in hand and waited.

"Anywhere you like," he told her.

He was going to leave her to her own devices but she stopped him, "where are you going?"

Damon paused, "living room. Did you need something?"

"Yah actually," she said as she sat down on the couch and began pulling a notebook and pen out of her bag. "I need you tell me everything about this tomb Mr. Salvatore. Otherwise, me opening it just won't happen, at least not in my lifetime. So you're just gonna have to contend with answering the thousands of questions I've got for you so far, Mr. Salvatore."

He smiled at her, girl was forthright and honest, how could he not like that. "Fine, but stop calling me 'Mr. Salvatore' my name is Damon."

Dawn actually tried to stare him down over this, he watched her, letting the same electrical current fly between them that he had felt before. After a moment Dawn shuddered, apparently she could feel it too. "Fine, Damon. Now come on, I've gotta be home by curfew and I wanna at least get started tonight."

Damon sauntered across the room and sat down on the couch next to her, leaning close to her ear to whisper, "what would you like to know?"

She shivered and he could smell the mixture of fear and arousal pouring off of her. "I need to know who locked her up, how, and why? The effects of something like that over such an extended length of time. More specifically I need to know what's holding her in and how it was put there. Other than that… I'm not sure yet."

He noticed she had the questions written down in her notebook with spaces between each so she could write down her answers. Damon wondered if she was always so organized. "A group of overly nosy do-gooder monks locked her up, called them selves the Order of Brashit. I killed them all off centuries ago though. As it were all there texts and scrolls are here now," Damon smiled. "They're stowed on the third floor, I'll show you where later." He paused watching her scribble down a few notes as he was talking. Her hands were feminine and soft looking, a myriad of grace locked into thin long fingers. Damon noticed she was ignoring him and focusing instead on what he had been saying. Finally she looked up at him when he didn't continue, a question in her eyes. "Are you scared of me?"

She took a deep breath and shuddered out her answer, "you're a demon and I'm a watcher, and the slayer's sister on top of that; put simply I'm apprehensive of the position I'm in. Why?"

Damon's eyes searched her face, "I didn't mean of what I am, I meant of me. A sexy, seductive, older man… alone with you in my house… on a dark, stormy, night… Aren't you afraid Dawn?"

She stared at him for a moment before her face crumpled into a bout of laughter. Damon's jaw dropped she was laughing at him. _Why on earth was she laughing? _Finally Dawn caught her breath, "you're really funny you know that?"

"How's that?" he drawled.

She just shook her head, "you wanting to seduce _me_, when you have friggin' super models dangling off your arms." She snorted, "yah right."

Suddenly it hit him, the watcher didn't realize it. She had no clue just how enchanting she really was. Dawn didn't know her own beauty, strength or power at all. Damon watched as her featured quieted, "I was being serious." His voice was steady and even as he told her this.

She looked up at him, her face unreadable then turned back to her notebook. "Alright so the Order of Brashit sealed… Katherine, was it?… in a tomb about 2,000 years ago? How'd they manage to get her there in the first place?"

"It was the night after she turned me, I was just waking up when they came in," Damon shrugged. "They must not have noticed me because they just went after her, they managed to knock her down with a spell and then they tied and gagged her with ropes soaked in holy water and drug her away." Damon paused as he remembered that night so many years ago, "I followed them but they had a circle around the tomb, I couldn't move past it. I tried and tried but I couldn't move. Katherine was screaming as they walled her in, then they placed a seal in front of the door and worked their magics on the place." He looked at Dawn, she was watching him intently. "Their spell knocked me back and I was out cold until just before dawn, I had to leave her there. When I came back the next night even though the circle was gone I couldn't get close to the tomb. It was like there was an invisible wall around it. I've tried throughout the years. The magic hasn't weakened with time, and no demon has been able to approach it. Sometimes humans will pass it but…" Damon shrugged.

Dawn nodded, her blue eyes unreadable before she turned again to scribble down what he had said. When she was done she stood and looked at him expectantly, "alright, show me the books you've got them."

Damon got up from the couch and led the way up to the third floor library. He pointed to three large shelves lining the walls from floor to ceiling, "those are all the books I have that mention the Order, or the seal they used for that matter." He caught Dawn's expression from the corner of his eye and smirked, "don't worry Dawnie, I don't expect you to have the tomb opened by the end of the week or anything."

She moved forward and began scanning the title's she could see for a place to begin. Damon almost missed it when she murmured behind her, "don't call me Dawnie." His lips twitched slightly as he tried not to laugh. _Yep, this little watcher's all fire and pep_.

Buffy was pacing the living room anxiously, Dawn was nearly an hour late and it was raining buckets outside. Dawn was never late. The older Summers had been trying to push down her rising panic that something had gone wrong and her sister was hurt somewhere, telling herself that Dawn had simply sought shelter from the rain or been delayed by friends. _But if that was the case why hadn't she called? _

Finally Buffy's patience snapped when the house phone rang only for it to be a wrong number. She punched Dawn's cell number in and nearly died from a stroke when it took Dawn four rings to pick up. "Where are you?"

Dawn was again sitting with Damon in the main parlor of the house. "You know I'm gonna have to see the tomb for myself sometime soon." Dawn sighed as her cell phone rang, it was inevitably Buffy, "but not tonight." She held up a finger to keep Damon quiet as she answered. Buffy sounded like she was having a heart ache on the other end. "Relax, Buffy I'm fine and I'm on my home now."

Damon watched the littlest Summers lie to the slayer for him with a smirk.

"No, I was just at the library picking up a few books and researching some of the local history and I lost track of time." There was a pause as Dawn listened to her sister's sigh of relief. "Sorry to have worried you," she added sheepishly.

Damon wondered if she felt guilty at all about doing this and decided he would ask her before she left.

"See you home, love you too." With that Dawn snapped her cell shut and pulled on her now dry boots.

Damon had already called for a car to drop her off a block from her house fifteen minutes ago. He walked her to the door but stopped her with his question before he left, "do you feel guilty… about helping me that is?"

Dawn again turned her stunning blue gaze on him, "no. Not really."

Damon chuckled and couldn't help reaching out to tuck a stray piece of hair back from her face. He swallowed thickly when he noticed that Dawn hadn't even moved when he touched her. Usually women sighed, or cooed, some ran and screamed in fear. None just stood there motionless, emotionless too. He wondered not for the first time what she would do if he kissed her. Then before he could do anything more Dawn turned and walked to the waiting car, getting in without so much as a glance back.

Once home Dawn took a shower and said goodnight to her sister before settling into bed to begin translating the first book she had grabbed. It seemed to be a journal of the grandson of one of the monks who had sealed this Katherine in the tomb. Dawn couldn't help but think that she must have been very pretty to have a man like Damon chase after her for nearly two thousand years. Then she remembered the way he had looked her after he had shifted her hair out of her eyes. If Dawn didn't know better she'd swear he was considering kissing her. _Foolishness Dawnie_, the voice inside her head whispered. _You're a watcher and he's a vampire. Slayers always come first_. She shook her head to clear it and went to work.

After and hour and half of reading and translating the most boring thing she'd ever come across, she found a passage that actually seemed important. It said: 'To fylakto chrisimopoiithike gia tin enischysi tis sfragidas. Einai zotikis simasias gia ti diexagogi tou thiriou.'

Dawn translated it over and over again to be sure, but it was indeed what she thought it was. The Greek monk writing this and Romanized all his letters but the words were still there. The passage read, 'The amulet was used to reinforce the seal. It is vital for sealing the beast.'

The next morning Damon was shocked awake when one of his pillows thumped across his head repeatedly. He looked up groggily wondering if one of his lovers was having a tantrum, except he didn't remember having taken a lover to his bed the night before. "Mmm… come to join me for a nice little fuck watcher?" he grinned broadly as he rose naked from his sheets to smile at the girl, only to be hit in the face with his pillow once more.

Dawn realized he was but naked and quickly turned her back to him after hitting him one last time. "Why didn't you tell me there was an amulet Damon?" she ground out through gritted teeth.

Damon sighed and pulled a sheet around his waist, "what amulet are you talking about?"

Dawn continued to stare at the far wall, "the one used in the tomb spell Damon."

He reached out and grabbed her wrist pulling her down beside him, she let out a yelp of surprise. "There was an amulet? What amulet? What did you find?" he demanded of her.

Dawn's eyes couldn't help but to rake over his scantly clad form as she told him about the passage. "We're gonna need that amulet to open the tomb Damon."

Her eyes continued to stare at him as he raised a hand and rubbed his face, she noticed his growing awareness of her under the sheet and blushed scarlet. Damon dropped his hand when he smelled the familiar scent of arousal tint the air, Dawn's face was flushed and her breathing shallow. "So how did you get in here anyway?" he was sincerely curious about the girl's resourcefulness.

"Your maid let me in."

Her voice sounded a bit breathy and Damon couldn't help but to lean closer to her. "Do you want to have sex with me Dawn?" he was only half teasing her as his eyes danced with mischief.

Dawn's eyes hardened in response, "I'm a watcher Damon, my slayers come first. Speaking of I have to go train them to _kill_ your kind."

As Dawn was walking away Damon called after her, "you didn't say no."

**A/N: The Romanized- Greek passage is an actual translation done as such and means what it says it means. Yay for me and Google Translate. **


	5. Chapter 5

Dawn was just coming out of school and pushing past the throngs of lingering students on Monday when Marcus Pacelli, a cute boy from her Greek class, stopped her. He had dark brown hair that fell slightly over his eyes and a gorgeous smile. "Hey Dawn, right?" he said in faltering English.

"Oh hi, and yah," she sighed, not sure why he was talking to her.

"So how are you liking Italy so far? You just moved here right?"

Dawn glanced at her watch she had to meet Damon at the in twenty minutes. "Um, its fine. I gotta go though," she started to rush off.

"Hey can I telephone you?" Marcus called after and she turned shocked before quickly writing down her number and giving it to him.

She raced through the streets of Rome to meet Damon. They would only have and hour to look over the tomb before Dawn would have to leave to take her small group of slayers on patrol.

Damon was waiting for her looking stunning even in the direct light of the afternoon sun. Today he wore a dark blue button down shirt with black slacks, the ensemble looked wonderful on him and was clearly designer. Dawn sighed realizing she didn't look nearly as chic in her boot cut jeans and t-shirt.

"Hey," she greeted and watched as he checked his watch. "Sorry I'm late," she commented nonchalantly.

"You're not late, you're actually one minute early." He smiled at her and got the cutest little wrinkles around his eyes, not that she'd ever tell him that. "You did that when you came to my house you know; you were exactly one minute early."

Dawn just shrugged. "So where's the tomb? We haven't got long before I have to go to work."

He motioned for her to follow him and they began picking their way through the graves side by side. "So, Damon… can I ask you something?"

Damon looked at her questioningly, a slight twitch in his jaw. "I suppose."

"You knew Katherine when you were human right?" He nodded so Dawn decided to continue on despite his obviously tense state. "And you knew what she was… So how did you fall in love with her?… I mean you must have to have spent two thousand years trying to get her back."

He kept walking on silently for a few minutes and Dawn had almost given up home that he would answer. Finally he did in a soft voice, "Katherine was… unlike any other woman I'd ever met, and unlike any other vampire I've met since then. She's not just beautiful Dawn. She was impetuous, fun, and power flowed off her in waves. And not the kind of power you give off, hers was blatant and seductive."

Damon almost laughed when the little watcher wrinkled her forehead in thought, "I give off power?"

"In waves," he smiled. "You're just not so showy about as most, its more of a calm rocking than a ripping, smashing feel."

"Good. I'm not really a ripping, smashing type," she thought about that for a moment. "Except for when Buffy borrows my cds and ends up getting them all scratched up and broken."

Again the lines around his eyes appeared as he smiled. Dawn was talking to him, really talking to him. "We're here," he pointed to the sealed tomb a few feet away.

Dawn watched as he stopped short, it reminded her of how vampires would act when trying to enter a house without an invite. "I wonder if maybe someone's set up a private residence here," she joked.

"I can enter private residences, besides no other demons can enter this area either."

Damon leaned against a tombstone a few feet away and watched her draw a rough sketch of the seal in her notebook. He couldn't help but notice the tension that instantly filled her small frame when he told he could enter her home uninvited. "Is that a ring thing?" she asked.

"No, that's a I'm-over-two-thousand-years-old-thing." Her blues flashed at his and he elaborated, "all master vampires can after the first thousand years or so. It all depends on how much power you have, fledges however… well I doubt one would ever live so long anyway."

"How'd you find out you could do that?" Dawn had her back to him as she examined the seal for any hidden markings.

Damon watched as the muscles in her shoulders and the backs of her thighs pulled taut as she worked. _What a lovely body_, he thought almost wistfully. "I was in a little village in Denmark, the plague had struck and they were burning the corpses. It wasn't a very clean time or place, the fire spread to amongst the houses and I heard an infant crying in one of the abandoned buildings. Its mother had died from the plague and the father had left it there. The house was on fire but I tried to get in anyway, I damn near fell over when I found I could just walk in," he chuckled.

Blue eyes met blue as Dawn turned around to face him, "what happened to the child?"

"I returned him to his father, who unfortunately knew what I was and told his son years later. The boy sought vampires and eventually became one." Damon was holding something about the story back from Dawn. "I should have let him die," he whispered.

"What did he do?" she had moved forward unconsciously as he spoke and now stood just inches away from touching him.

Damon searched her eyes for a moment before answering, "the boy I saved was Joseph Heinrich Nest, and when he turned he became the Master. From what I hear he killed your sister." Dawn's sharp intake of breath didn't surprise him at all but her calm demeanor following that did, "I've heard about him. But he's dead, like gone-gone, and it wasn't your fault you know." Damon swallowed thickly and nodded. "I think I've done all I can for now Damon, and I have a group of slayers waiting so…" she motioned that she was ready to leave.

"I'll walk you back," he said softly. Dawn was an enigma to him, and he would never admit it but he really did enjoy the little watcher's company.

Across town Annamaria Lagudi held the Amulet of Navedenie up to the light. The middle aged strega knew it must be destroyed. Her family had come into possession of the amulet over five hundred years prior and had kept it safe. But now someone was seeking to open the door the amulet held closed and Annamaria knew the terror within could not be unleashed. The pot-bellied little witch set out to destroy the amulet now to keep the tomb and what lie within locked away for good.

"Okay, the key of tonight's lesson was what?" Dawn asked the eleven girls she had taken on patrol tonight but as usual they all stared at her looking completely brain dead. Sometimes Dawn seriously wondered how the hell Giles had ever managed doing this everyday with Buffy. She sighed audibly when they failed to answer and pinched the bridge of her nose between two fingers to block out the headache that was threatening to rear its ugly head. "The point," she said tersely, "is that anyone can become a vampire. It doesn't matter what religion, race, sex or age you are. They don't care if you're good or bad, you are their food. And as you saw for yourselves when it comes to even something that looks as innocent as a child, they cannot be trusted." Dawn motioned to where they had just fought and killed a vampire in the form of a six year old little girl. Finally the girls nodded their understanding and Dawn let out a sigh of relief. "Alright, lets all get home and get some rest then."

Half an hour later Dawn was just coming through her apartment door, she closed it night and leaned against it for a moment exhausted. With annoyance she heard her phone ringing. "Hello," she murmured tiredly.

"Dawn?" there was a pause. "Its Marcus, I hope I didn't wake you."

The memory of giving him her number came back to her and she nodded before realizing he wouldn't be able to see her. "Yah, no I was just getting in actually. What's up?"

"I was just wondering if you wanted to maybe join me for coffee tomorrow?"

_Wait was he asking her out? No one ever seriously wanted to go out with her. _Dawn nearly dropped the phone as she answered suspiciously, "yes."

Buffy walked out of her room and gave Dawn a funny look as she hung up after setting up her date for tomorrow. "Hey Buffy, you going out?"

The blond nodded, "I have a date with Alaric." She smiled, "he's taking me to dinner."

Dawn laughed, "how grown up of you then."

Buffy looked worried, "its not weird for you is it?"

"No," Dawn shook her head. "Now when you were working at my school and went on a date with my principal only to have Faith turn around and screw him in your bed, now _that_ was weird."

"You knew about that?" Her sister looked seriously aghast.

"Well they weren't exactly quiet, then again no one in the house was." Dawn shrugged and seeing her sister's blatant unease added, "relax Buffy I'm not twelve. I know about the birds and the bees."

"Dawn you haven't…?"

"No, and I don't need you to give me the talk either so relax." Dawn smiled at her sister trying to put the slayer at ease.

The tall brunette was about to head into her room when Buffy asked the question she was hoping her sister would skip. "So you got a date tomorrow?"

"Its just coffee."

Buffy smiled, "is he at least human?"

"Yes," Dawn sighed. "You're not gonna hurt him are you?"

The slayer laughed, "well…. I'll at least give him a chance before ripping his limbs off and beating him to death with them." Dawn just shook her head and headed to her room.

"Sir," Michael addressed him as Damon stood from building a fire in his parlor.

"Yes?" Damon turned to face the large bald man.

Whatever it was, it was serious. Michael's mustache only twitched like that when something important was going on. "We got word on the amulet you've been searching for. Its called the Amulet of Navedenie, Sir. And we've located it."

That was quick, Damon had only assigned him the task a few days ago. Damon smiled and offered the other man a drink, which he declined just as Damon knew he would. "Where is it?"

"Right here in Roma, a Ms. Lagudi seems to have inherited it from her father." Michael handed him a file on the matter which Damon ran through quickly and grabbing the woman's address decided to go pick up his little watcher.

Buffy sat across from Alaric Saltzman, she smiled warmly at him and the thought that she didn't want this to end popped in her head. "I'm not going to sleep with you tonight," she blurted out and nearly bit her tongue when he looked at her strangely.

"Uh, good," he said with a charmingly boyish grin.

"I'm sorry that was weird… its just…" she thought of how to explain it and decided being open and honest was the best policy. _At least to a point_, she added silently to herself. "I just got out of serious relationship a little while back and I'm _so_ not looking for a rebound. I like you," she added. "I mean I like you and if you're not too put off by my verbal vomit, I'd like to do this again sometime."

Alaric's face turned utterly serious and his eyes danced with some hidden pain, "actually I know exactly what you mean Buffy. I.. " he cleared his throat. "I moved here because.. I was married and then my wife.. Well put simply I'm pretty sure she's dead."

"Pretty sure?" Buffy was starting to wonder if she should worry about the man who was around her and her sister so much.

"She went missing three years ago, and they found blood, signs of a struggle. No body though, so… I just killed the entire conversation didn't I?" His face reflected a pain and regret that Buffy instantly connected with.

Her hand reached out and rested over his gently, "no, you didn't." He looked into her eyes and smiled sweetly.

Dawn had been lying in bed for twenty minutes trying to sleep when she finally gave up and went to her closet. Tomorrow morning she had a date with Marcus, it was her first real date at that. There were no spelled jackets, or vampires, it was just a nice normal date with a nice normal guy and she was going crazy with nerves. She searched her closet and found four choices of shirts, two possible dresses, two pairs of pants, and a skirt that might work. _Now to narrow it down_, she thought as began holding different combinations up in front of the mirror.

Suddenly Dawn heard a tap on her window and jumped, tossing her clothes as she did. She turned to find Damon smirking at her on the other side of the glass. She went to open the window for him and for once hated having a fire escape right outside her window. "What are you doing here?" she asked exasperated.

He handed her a file as he climbed into her room. "Sneaking into your room at night, after all I didn't realize your big sis would be out and didn't want you getting into trouble."

Dawn shook her head and put the file on her desk before bending to pick up her clothes from the floor. "So what's with the file?" she asked as she turned to put her clothes back on the bed.

Damon took a moment to answer as he carefully looked around her room, taking in every available detail about her there. "You don't have any pictures," he commented. "My house, along with all my things, including pictures, is at the bottom of a crater Damon." He frowned and then pushed her clothes over on the bed so he could sit down. Dawn's stomach did a flip at seeing him there but she ignored it and pressed on. "The file Damon?"

He motioned over to where it sat, "read it." She rolled her eyes and grabbed the file, beginning to read. "So what were you doing anyway Dawnie? You got a hot date or something?" he smiled.

She looked up from what she was reading about the amulet, "yah, actually I do."

Damon frowned at that thought, and even more so realizing he was actually jealous of another man being with her. His blue eyes sparkled as he tried to hide the strange things he was feeling and he teased her, "boy or girl?"

"None of your business," was her terse reply. "So you found the amulet. Great, get it back and that'll make things _way_ easier."

"Well," he teased as he stood up and sniffed her hair for a moment, "I was hoping you would come with me. After all I heard a rumor you had a knack for going places you weren't supposed to be and taking things you shouldn't."

Dawn faced him with the faintest blush ghosting her cheeks. "I'm not that person anymore."

"We never stop being who we are Dawn," he replied softly. The little watcher sighed, knowing she was defeated.

Annamaria was setting up the spell to destroy the amulet when Damon and Dawn knocked on her apartment door twenty minutes later. She ignored their knocking and began her spell.

Outside the door Dawn got a funny look on her face, "do you feel that?" Damon shook his head, the only thing he could feel was the uncomfortable bite of his zipper and the heated flames that always came when he was near Dawn. "It feels like… magic," she waved her hands at a loss for words and her baby blue eyes clouded over with worry.

Damon's brow furrowed as he considered why a witch in possession of his amulet would be ignoring the knocks on her door and doing a spell. He took one look at Dawn's questioning look and turned the knob until the mechanism there in snapped.

Sure enough Annamaria was working the magics to destroy the amulet. "Stop," Damon commanded and Dawn quickly looked around for a way to disable the spell. Dawn saw the herbs the witch had burning and was going to douse the flames when Annamaria snaked out a hand and lashed out at the girl with her magic. The little watchers body was thrown into the far wall where she slumped dazed for a moment.

The spell was culminating and they could all feel it now. Suddenly the amulet burst with light before fracturing, Damon let out a feral growl and attacked the woman. Dawn jerked forward to stop him as he tore into the woman's throat. "No!" she screamed but it was too late. Damon dropped the woman's corpse and seethed in anger. She shook her head at him astonished at having just watched him kill someone.

Damon turned back to her fangs still drawn, mouth covered in blood. "You okay Dawn?" he growled out.

She shook her head again, eyes glowing with anger and pain. "You didn't have to kill her, Damon."

He nudged the corpse at his feet with one boot, "maybe not, but the witch pissed me off." At Dawn's look he continued, "she destroyed the amulet."

The girl stood up slowly from where she had fallen, "I'll find another way to get Katherine back Damon, but," she started towards the door and looked back towards him, "you didn't have to kill her." The look of disappointment on her face as she looked down on the dead woman made his blood boil. How could she actually expect him to be something other than what he was.

When Buffy got home from her date Dawn was gone, she checked her sister's room only to find her clothes in disarray and her bed empty. Dawn came through the door just as Buffy reached for her cell to check on her. "Where were you Dawn?" the slayer exclaimed worriedly.

"I just couldn't sleep so I took a walk to clear my head," Dawn hung her jacket up and sat on the couch.

Buffy could tell something was wrong, "is that all Dawn?" she pressed.

The younger girl looked up at her and Buffy swore she saw a flicker of something dark behind her eyes but it was gone before Buffy could grasp the notion of it. "Yah, I'm just nervous about tomorrow I guess. I've never had a real date before and I have no clue what to wear."

"Want some help?" When Buffy asked her this the memory of what Giles had told both of them about asking for help popped into her head. She was in way over her head with Damon and drowning. _Right now_, she thought, _if I tell her everything right now then she can and will help me_. But instead she pushed the thought away, this really was something she would have to do and handle alone.


	6. Chapter 6

After Dawn had walked out on him earlier that night he had been enraged. _How dare she judge me, with those judgey little eyes of hers_. Damon walked all the way back to her apartment a little while later and once again climbed her fire escape. His steps were quick and hurried as he raced upwards to her room. He quickly reached her window and looked in on the girl. Dawn laid tucked, small and fragile in the bed amidst a pile of books and notes. Notes on the tomb and amulet and ways to get past it to open the tomb he realized. _She's still going to help me_, he thought, amazed at the notion, all of his previous anger draining away.

Her face looked so young and innocent in the moonlight. Dawn's pouty lips were opened on a sigh and her dark lashes laid gently against her high cheek bones. Too young to face monsters and fight through a war, but she had. _She's only seventeen_, he realized almost for the first time. Damon traced her cheek and jaw line with careful fingers, letting his anger melt away. His lips burned as he caressed her lips the same way, aching to taste her. "Damon," she sighed in her sleep. For a moment he almost thought she had awoken but her heart rate remained calm and sedated. He looked up as he heard a the sound of footprints coming closer to Dawn's door and quickly darted out the window.

Buffy had awoken with a strange feeling, like someone was in the house that wasn't supposed to be. She looked around confused and made her way through the dark apartment to check on Dawn. For an instant she thought she saw something moving outside Dawn's window but when she looked, nothing was there. Quickly she locked it and looked Dawn over. Her sister was piled up with ancient unreadable tomes and notes, as usual. Buffy brushed her hand over Dawn's pale face just as Damon had done only moments ago and left her sister to rest. She shook off the odd feeling, boiling it down to paranoia born of too many sleepless nights.

The next day Dawn was having a terrific time on her date with Marcus, she couldn't stop laughing as he talked to her. "So I thought Los Angeles was a cosmopolitan city," he laughed.

"Nah, I think Rome takes the cake on that one," she teased him.

Marcus laughed and reached his hand out to rub over the top of hers on top of the table. "But you are getting along well here in Rome?" his voice had dropped and he was acting like it was very important.

Dawn's breath hitched and she stared at their touching hands before taking a deep breath. "Yah, its great. I love all the history around here."

"I noticed that some of the girls in our class were being rude, I hope you our not too put off by them." Marcus's brown eyes bore into Dawn's baby blue ones, hoping to reassure her.

She shook her head, "don't worry about it. There are girls like that all over I imagine."

His smile lit up his face and he sat back, breaking the contact of their hands. "I have a football game tonight, I would like very much if you were there."

Dawn looked down, "uh, what time is it?"

Damon sat across the street from Forenzo's Café and watched Dawn flirt with the boy. The human was caressing her hand on their first date and Damon had to grit his teeth to keep from ripping the boys throat out. _Mine_, his brain screamed, and he fought to ignore it.

He sipped his coffee and watched the boy try to lean in for a kiss that Dawn subtly dodged and nearly laughed at the spectacle. The boy didn't seem to notice though as he ran off with a grin. Damon waited as Dawn crossed the street and came to stand before him with her arms crossed.

She was wearing a tighter shirt than any Damon had seen her in so far and the move just amplified the curvature of her breast. "What are doing here Damon?" she demanded fearlessly.

"Drinking coffee," he replied nonchalantly. _How dare she question him? This was his city! _Dawn just rolled her eyes and began to walk off. "Do not roll your eyes at me," he warned quietly and she stopped dead in her tracks. Turning around Dawn purposefully rolled her eyes again. Damon slammed his coffee cup down shattering the fragile porcelain and stood facing her. "This is my city Dawn, you will obey me."

"No," she haughtily told him. Several of the other customers of the diner cleared away and stood watching with the waiter from a safe distance. No one had ever stood up to the Immortal this way.

Damon stood up then, meaning to tower over her and intimidate the young girl. Dawn wouldn't be intimidated though, she stepped forward making a point to show him how unafraid she was. "Sit down," he growled at her.

After looking him over carefully Dawn's delicate right brow shot up part way just before she turned and flounced off. Damon stared after her retreating backside for a whole minute before he decided to just go after her. He caught up to her three blocks away, she was walking so quickly and he hadn't thought to actually run after her. Damon's hand caught her right shoulder and turned the fuming girl towards him. _God she's gorgeous like this_, his mind betrayed him.

Her hair was flying loosely around her, her cheeks were flushed, and her full lips were panting in exasperation. He looked deeply into her flashing blue eyes, "why are you still helping me if you're so pissed at me Dawn?" Damon's voice was soft and full of vulnerability.

He watched as her eyes clouded with sympathy and compassion before hardening with unreadable thing again. "Because," she sighed, almost seeming to relent to some unseen force. "The sooner I open the tomb, the sooner you'll leave Rome with Katherine and I can get back to a nice peaceful life. Now if you'll excuse me I have some work to do to get it done."

Damon stepped away, looking stunned as if she had slapped him. It was her turn to watch as his jaw hardened and he nodded, pressing his lips together angrily. Dawn watched him walk away for a few seconds before heading home again.

As Dawn came through the apartment door she ran directly into a strange older man, obviously Italian, with dark hair and pretty gray eyes. "Mi scusi," he murmured as he moved past her and left.

The teenager looked from the now closed door to where her sister had just walked into the kitchen, hair messed up and a bit tousled. "Hey Buffy, who was that?" she asked as she tossed her bag on the couch.

Her older sister actually had the good graces to look a bit ashamed, "that was uh... Alfonso." The slayer grimaced a bit, running her fingers through her already messy blond hair and joining Dawn's bag on the couch.

"Alfonso?" Dawn asked, "what happened to Alaric?"

Buffy shrugged and looked back at her, "nothing. How was your date?"

Dawn smiled, thin lipped and quiet, "good. Marcus is nice, he asked me to come to his football game... which is our soccer really." The brunette padded over to the armchair and sat with a slight oomph... the 'but' resounding in her mind. _But... he was no Damon. Shut up_! she screamed at herself internally. Dawn wanted to get her mind off a certain Salvatore and hadn't missed her sister's obvious dodging before. "You know," she started leaning forward, "you could always come too, maybe ask Alaric to go with?"

Buffy gave her sister her sly 'I-know-what-you're-doing' smile and patted her knees before getting up and heading off to take a shower. "Maybe," she called back over her shoulder.

Later that night Dawn, Buffy, and Alaric were walking into the football court where Marcus' game was going to be played. When he saw Dawn he gave her a bright gleaming smile, which she could barely muster to send back with equal enthusiasm.

The younger girl did her best to give her two chaperones some privacy on their date, and to pay attention to what her maybe-possible boy friend was doing on the field. Half way through the game she spotted a familiar set of blue-gray eyes topped by jet black hair. She started to get up to go talk to him, murmuring something about using the bathroom to her ever watchful sister.

Dawn hurried towards the bathroom, knowing that Damon would follow her regardless. Once she was sure that no one would see or over hear them she stopped, crossing her arms and waiting for him. She turned and found that Damon was already standing less than a foot behind her.

"What are you doing here?" she whispered anxiously.

He pushed her back into the shadows, just in case, and blocked the view of her body with his own. Leaning a hand against the wall next to her head and pinning her in he answered. "I don't like you dating this guy," he pointed out.

"I don't care," she pointed out blatantly.

Damon nearly growled at her, "yah well, I won't have it interfering with the work you're doing for me."

"It won't," came her short answer.

"Speaking of," he continued ignoring her. "Did you actually make an progress after you stomped off earlier?"

She sighed and leaned back against the wall, slumping slightly as though the mention of her 'work' made her more comfortable somehow. Dawn shook her head slightly, "we need to have the energies that were released when the amulet was destroyed redirected." "What does that mean?" he asked in exasperation.

"It means we need to make a new amulet to replace the old one, which requires a witch."

Damon waved his hand at her, "so call your friend Willow, have her whip up an amulet and we're in business right?"

Dawn's eyes ticked up to meet his own, "no. I'm not calling Willow. We don't know each other... remember? Therefore, I'm not calling Willow for this or anything else relating to you."

Damon leaned forward, staring intently into her pretty blue eyes, "except you do know me. In fact," he smirked at her, "I'm pretty sure you think of me all the time little watcher." He leaned forward until he could feel her sweet breath tickling his lips, "and right now you want to kiss me."

They stood staring at each for a long moment, finally Dawn broke the silence. "You're wrong," she pointed out before pushing him back and heading back to the game.

For the second night in a row Damon found himself outside Dawn's room, sulking on her fire escape. Only tonight he wasn't watching her sleep, he was watching her wreathe. He had come to tell her about his witchy ex-girlfriend and instead had found her like this. Her eyes were clamped shut, unaware of his presence, her long alabaster legs tangled in the sheets.

Damon's eyes were glued to the sight of her hands moving across her skin. One pinching and tugging at the hardened nipple of her breast, the other rubbing and pressing to her groin. He shook as he watched her, practically tasting her wetness in the air. Dawn's moistened fingers slid in and out of her tight center again and again as she panted and cooed. His own fingers twitched and he found himself having to fight against gripping his own shaft and finding release.

Faster and faster she moved, rocking slightly, onto her slick little fingers. He let out a groan as he watched her lift them to her mouth and suck them clean before replacing them again. Damon let his mind wonder as he watched her, imagining himself as the one above her, pulling those gasping little moans from her lips. He had wanted to kiss her so badly earlier, but she had refused him. Damon wasn't even sure why he had wanted her, just that he had. He shook his head and pushed the fantasy from his mind, if she wouldn't accept his kiss, she'd never willing take more of him.

Just as he was about to turn and leave her to her pleasure, he heard her orgasm taking her. Dawn's breaths had sped to a crescendo of breathy little pants, and her back was arched cleanly off the bed, revealing every inch of her lovely skin. He turned back hearing her cry out softly, "Damon," her moan came. A slow smirk spread over the vampires face, _interesting little watcher_.

**A:N/ Sorry it took me so long to update, I kind of fell out of synch with this story for a while but it's way too good for me to just drop midstream. I want to send a great thanks to all my readers and reviewers. You guys keep my love for writing going. Oh and Happy Thanksgiving everyone :) **


	7. Chapter 7

The brick school building was full of bustling students and booths, quickly being filled with pamphlets, free key chains, and magnets displaying an array of logos and ideas for the youths futures. Buffy was helping Ric hang a banner over the teaching booth he was directed to run for the evening. She looked over and smiled at her date, he was a good man but she still wasn't sure if he would be able to fit in with her world.

"So Buffy," he looked over at her and grinned, "there's another fair going on this weekend, well sort of, in Florence. I was thinking that maybe you and I should go together." He stepped back admiring the way the sign hung for a moment before moving to spread a plethora of pamphlets over the booth's table.

The blond looked down for a moment thinking over the proposition, there were slayers to cover for her now so she couldn't use that as an excuse. The only thing that might truly hold her back from it was her concern over living Dawn alone for any length of time. Buffy looked up at the man she'd been dating for three weeks, "I don't know, I'm just worried about leaving Dawn alone like that."

He looked thoughtful for a moment, "she's seventeen though, are you telling me you've never left her home alone?"

She laughed lightly at that, realizing just how foolish she really must sound. "Not over night, not without someone else there." Ric chuckled a bit at that. "I know," Buffy pointed out, "its just with loosing my mom and everything else, I just... I can't loose Dawnie now."

Alaric turned towards her, "I don't mean to sound like I'm pushing or overstep my bounds here, but... At some point you're going to have to let her go Buffy, she'll be going off to college and starting her life before you know it." He paused for a moment before cracking a bright smile at her, "and I thought I'd have to be having this talk with a much older woman but at least you're prettier."

Buffy smiled and hugged him, "thanks for the advice Ric. I'll think it over and discuss it with my warden."

"That's all I'm asking," he grinned and snatched a quick peck on the lips before turning back to his table.

Damon was pacing back and forth along the breadth of his parlor watching Dawn scribbling on something. Dawn was sitting on the floor, bent over the paper she was writing on. Her hair was falling over one shoulder giving him tantalizing view of her silky skinned ivory neck. "Have you found anything else on opening the tomb?" he asked her. She continued writing and barley gave him a hmm-ing sound in response. "What are you doing?" he stopped and asked in exasperation. He certainly wasn't used to people ignoring him like this and didn't like it.

"Taking my career aptitude test," she mumbled.

He frowned, "why?"

She sighed, "because, its mandatory. Not like it matters I already know what I'm going to do. Being a watcher was all that kept me going that last year in Sunnydale."

Damon sat down on the couch across the coffee table from her, "exactly. So why both actually filling out the aptitude test at all? You already know you're going to become a watcher."

"I'm not going to _become_ a watcher Damon," she explained. "I am a watcher, I already train girls. I lead a whole squad of slayers all on my own, give them advice, research everything for them." Dawn stopped writing for a moment, staring off into space in a way that utterly amazed him. "I feel like I'm needed, that's important to me; there are too few watchers, too many slayers, and far too many demons out there these days."

Damon's blue-gray eyes washed over her form, _had to love a passionate woman with brains and a great body_. He was about to comment on her the fact that he was a demon himself and she didn't seem to have an issue with that when her phone began to ring.

Dawn looked at the screen before answering, "its my sister. Hello?" She paused listening, "dinner? At that little cafe across from that sexy lingerie shop near home. Sure, I'll meet you there in about an hour. No I'm at the library... yah see you there Buffy."

She got up, packing up her things and Damon had to stop her, "wait what about the tomb? Besides the amulet what else have you found?"

Dawn paused, "there's a reference in the Grundum Text that might have something on the spell the monks may have used. You don't have a copy so I ordered one, it'll be here in about a week Damon." She nodded grabbing her bag, sure that he had nothing else to say for the moment and headed out the door.

Buffy and Dawn were having dinner together outside, despite it being mid October it was still warm out, one of the blessing of living in Southern Italy. Dawn pointed to the shopping bag laying next to Buffy's feet and asked over a bite of her roast chicken. "What'd you buy from the lingerie shop? Some sexy number to show off for Ric?"

The blond blushed, "yah, um... Ric asked me to go away with him for the weekend."

"Oh, cool. Where are you guys going?" Dawn happily rushed on.

"I'm not sure that we are," Buffy said quietly looking her sister over carefully.

Dawn took a drink of her iced tea, "why not?"

Buffy glanced down at her plate and then back up at her younger sister trying to gage her reaction, "I'm just not sure I'm comfortable leaving you alone like that."

The younger sibling blinked slowly, "leaving me alone to catch up on some much needed sleep? Are you kidding me... Get out."

The slayer burst out laughing at her sister's dead pan tone of voice and serious expression. "Alright, alright, no need to get mean about it."

Dawn chuckled, "I wasn't being mean."

After finishing the meals the sisters walked through the streets of Rome chatting companionably about shoes, clothes, and their dates for the evening. "So you're meeting Marcus, in an almost date like manner for this," Buffy teased coyly.

"Yep," Dawn nodded.

"You really like him?" Buffy asked cautiously. Dawn shrugged with brought about a worried frown on her sister's face. "What's wrong Dawn? Did he hurt you? If he's hurt you I can _soooo_ beat him up!"

Dawn looked at her sister oddly and quickly quelled her impending freak out, "no its just... he's nice. I'm not used to that, just trying not to get my hopes up or anything."

The older sister stopped, they were just inside the school building now and paused so they could talk. "Dawnie, it's okay to be happy, you know that right?"

A thinly pressed smile that didn't quite reach her eyes and nod was Dawn's response. "I know."

Just then Marcus walked up and waved a hello to Buffy before leading Dawn away. He had met the other sister at his football game a few weeks prior. "Hello bella," he greeted Dawn with his usual warm smile, taking her hand he led her through a few of the booths until he found a couple he liked.

She noticed the brochures he was picking, "so a business man, huh?"

He nodded, "my father has always told me the true way to success is to jump into head first. A business man and entrepreneur can make lots of money, get a good home, a beautiful wife, and raise equally successful children."

She frowned a bit, "is your dad the only reason you want that kind of job?"

"No, it allows me the best chances for the life I've always wanted. Isn't that what a career is supposed to do?"

"Yah, I guess so," Dawn admitted thinking over why she had chosen to become a watcher. It was all about belonging to something bigger than herself, being able to help people; the things she'd always wanted most.

"And what about you, eh? Which booth would you like to visit?" he asked waving his arms as though showing off all they had to offer in a single move.

Her eyes carefully searched the hallways, unfortunately all the signs weren't in English. "My Italian still sucks, help me find one for being and archaeologist?" she requested sweetly.

Marcus turned to help her in her search, "an archaeologist?"

"Yah, I wanna go study at Cambridge and then travel the world..." she began excitedly.

"But if you are traveling how will you get married and start a family," he interrupted.

Dawn frowned slightly, "I wasn't really planning to, at least not for a while."

"But this," he motioned around with his hand for a moment, searching for the words. "Digging around in dirt to uncover a dead man's things, it does not seem like a good job. Oh here is your booth," Marcus pointed, clearly meaning for her to go along with out him.

A sinking feeling over her current relationship plagued her thoughts as she listened to the paleontologist, the school's closet thing to what she was looking for, speak. When the career fair was over she found Marcus hanging with a few of his team mates and friends. He had specifically asked to drive her home tonight. The entire car ride was filled with an awkward silence on her part and a naive silence on his. He walked her to the door of her apartment, "so bella, another successful date, eh?"

She gave him a faint wan smile, "you sure are the businessman aren't you?"

"Ci, ci, I hope so," he grinned and leaned in pressing her back into the walk next to her door. A flashback of the night Damon had tried to kiss her played through her mind, only Marcus didn't try to goad her he just went in for the kill. Dawn's lips stayed nearly impassive and closed, not allowing his tongue entrance, despite the fact that it was currently wiggling against the seam of her lips.

She reflected over all the kisses in her life, granted this was only her third. Her first kiss Justine had made her heart pound and little shock waves of electricity course through her blood stream. R.J., her second had been more fumbling and slobbery, but still filled her with a hunger for more. This was just, pressing of lips, empty and devoid of all passion. Dawn sighed and stepped back, "Buffy will be worried if I'm not in soon." Marcus nodded happily and said goodnight.

Damon was waiting in Dawn's room nearly two hours later, sitting on her bed, holding a Styrofoam box used for carrying leftovers out of restaurants. She had been helping Buffy pack for her trip, they were leaving in the morning it seemed. "What are you doing here?" Dawn whispered after making sure her door was firmly closed.

"I brought you dessert," he answered quietly indicating the box.

"What if Buffy comes in?" she asked worriedly.

He looked up at her dubiously, "I'll jump out the window like I did last time."

Last time? she wondered. "Did you bring forks?" was the question that came out though.

He nodded and held one out to her. Inside the box was a beautiful and clearly expensive piece of chocolate layered cake, brimming with sweet cream. Dawn sat cross legged on the bed next to him, sharing the cake. "Thanks," she murmured over a mouthful of the dessert.

Damon nodded silently for a moment before taking another bite himself. "So how'd your career night go?"

She looked thoughtful, "it was okay," she lied quietly.

He wasn't fooled for an instant but thought better than to push, it was no fun when Dawn was mad at him. "So, I know you're a watcher," he began. "But what else do you want to do? I mean, even watchers have a day job."

Dawn shrugged slightly and met his eyes, "I want to go to Cambridge, get a doctorate in archaeology and then a bachelors degree in anthropology. I want to travel the world and uncover the day to day secrets in the lives of people, otherwise forgotten and lost to time." She was so serious about it he wondered who had questioned her passion for it before.

He smirked a bit, letting his eyes twinkle, "I can definitely see you in that job, that's for sure." Damon leaned down, resting on one hand and elbow with his legs still off the bed, listening to Dawn.

"Yah, if I can keep my grades up and get a scholarship," she chuckles. After a moment Dawn sobered up, "my mom's the one who got me into it. She owned an art gallery, and not just for the modern day splatters of paint on a canvas type stuff either. Like actual art," this made Damon laugh softly. "She had this one statue," Dawn continued, a starry look in her eyes, "it was this Mayan God figure, he was supposed to protect house and home, give good crops, and make mothering easier. It was mom's favorite."

"What happened to it?"

"We had to get rid of it; Willow was going through a rough patch with the magics so all magic type stuff had to go," she took another bite of cake.

When Damon got home that night he searched through the numbers in his phone until he found the right one. It would be eight a.m. for Dean Affazar in England. "Hey," he greeted, "you still looking for help this summer? I have the most talented girl that I think would be just perfect for you..."

**A/N: R&R= L O V E ! **


	8. Chapter 8

_Where is she? _Damon anxiously thought as he paced the through the library for the millionth time. He had expected Dawn to take advantage of her sister being away for the weekend by helping him, and here it was noon, and he hadn't received so much as a phone call from her yet. With a sigh he grabbed his jacket and headed out the door. _She better not be with that boy again, _he thought.

Half an hour later he arrived at her apartment's front door and was pounding away. He could hear her inside but she wasn't answering. Damon growled and let himself in, he stormed through the living room, following the sounds. Stopping short as he burst through the bathroom door, he frowned, suddenly ashamed of his own previous anger.

Dawn sat in her bath robe, sprawled on the floor next to the toilet. Her face was ashen and pale from sickness, her hair lay in a flattened disheveled mass around her. Dawn groaned and looked up at him, "what are you doing here Damon?"

"Checking on you," his lips pressed together in a slight grimace.

"I'm sick," she hiccuped in a small quiet voice.

He watched her sway slightly before turning back to vomit yet again. "I can see that," he commented before stripping off his jacket and rolling up his sleeves. Damon took a seat on the edge of the tub across from her and wetting a washcloth he turned her face up to look at him. Patting gently he carefully began to clean her up. "We have to get you out of these," he said tugging gently on the robe.

For a moment Dawn looked at him like he was crazy, "what are you doing?"

He let his blue eyes search her face for a moment, "taking care of you... I guess." Again Dawn wobbled for a moment before she finally rested back against the toilet. Damon nodded at her almost silent consent, he plugged up the tub and began filling it with hot steamy water.

Grabbing a towel he turned back to help her undress. Dawn allowed him to help her remove the soiled robe before she stopped his hands from pulling up the tank top she'd worn to bed the night before. "What are you doing?"

"Getting you into that bath," he replied tersely, tugging on the end of her top again.

Again she stopped him, "I'm not gonna let you watch me bathe, _naked_, Damon."

He stepped back for a moment as though it hadn't occurred to him. "No, you're going to let me bathe you. And what does it matter if you're naked or not Dawn? You're sick, I can't take advantage of a sick person, that's too evil for even me." He watched as she thought it over and finally nodded her slight consent. Damon leaned down and pulled the top up and over her head, trying not to notice the tingles in his fingers where they brushed her skin or the tightening in his groin. Dawn's hair went flying in a static mess, "besides," he commented to lighten the mood. "I've already seen you naked."

Dawn looked at him with an almost panicked expression as he lifted her with one arm and jerked her pants down with the other. She swayed a bit and let him help hold her up as she finished stepping out of them, "what do you mean you've seen me naked?"

Damon tried not to notice her small firm breast pressed into his chest as he looked into her pale eyes. "A few weeks ago," he explained as he reached down and hooked to fingers into her panties. "After the football game, I came back over to see you," he pulled them down, kneeling next to her and allowing her to use his shoulders as support to stand upright. Damon's eyes ticked forward to her now naked nether region, only a strip of hair showed at the apex of her thighs. "I saw you, touching yourself..." he smirked as he picked her up and deposited her in the water.

"Oh god," she groaned, light pink showed on her cheeks, causing him to chuckle.

Damon stepped away allowing her to relax and soak for a moment while he went in search of a fresh set of clothes for her to wear. While he was shuffling through the clothes in her dresser he plucked out his cell phone and made a call to Michael. "Yah I need you to grab the maid and stop at the store and pick up chicken fingers, mustard, and hot coco; the kind with the little marshmallows... Right see you then," he hung up and headed back into the bathroom.

Dawn was resting against the back of the bathtub looking utterly miserable. "Can you hand me a hair tie?" she croaked out pointing towards the bathrooms vanity. He set down her fresh clothes before grabbing one. Dawn's breasts dipped up out of the water as she tied her hair back, pert pink nipples peeking up at him.

Damon knelt down next to the tub and grabbed a washcloth, slowing soaping it up he moved to get her clean. He was about to wash her neck and shoulders when she caught his wrist, her pale blue eyes met and held his own for a long minute before she finally let go and relented to his ministrations.

He slowly circled the cloth over her flesh, lathering her up as he went. Damon worked his way across her upper chest and then down each arm, before leaning her forward to wash her back. Once her back was clean he dipped his hands under the water and lifted her leg up. Dawn's eyes were tracing the movements of his hands as he washed her body. He slowly moved to wash her breast and lower, he could feel her heart beat quickening as he worked.

Once she was clean he drained the tub and helped her get dried and dressed. Damon carried her into her bedroom and tucked her in. "I'll be right back," he told her.

"Where are you going?" she whispered looking sleepy already.

"Don't worry about it," Damon told her. He left her drifting in her bed and went to greet Michael at the door. After assuring the maid that she wouldn't have to clean his home today and giving her a bonus for her help today, he quickly made her lunch and came back to join her. Damon set her plate down for a moment and went gently went to wake her. He stroked along the side of her soft face, Dawn slowly came to. He handed Dawn her lunch and sat next to her to help support her.

"You got me chicken fingers," she whispered with a slight smile leaning her head against his shoulder. "Funny vampire."

Damon smirked, "you're a pretty funny watcher yourself, you know." They spent the rest of the day relaxing in the bed together. He watched her fall asleep as the sun went down, her head resting against his chest. _So warm, so soft, so sweet_, he sighed. _What about Katherine?_ his brain echoed.

Buffy and Ric were sitting in their hotel room sipping wine after a day of touring and shopping the streets of Florence. "So tell me Buffy," he asked setting down their now empty glasses. "What do you do for a living? You've never really told me," he gave her a sweet boyish smile.

Buffy pursed her lips, "I um... I help people, help young women with extraordinary gifts."

"Oh so you work for some sort of charity type company doing this? Is it just women or men too?" he leaned forward genuinely interested.

"Women, and no its just um something I do. There's no company or anything really," she moved forward to pour more wine.

"So what do you do for money?" he said taking his glass, "I mean someone has to pay you right."

"Well yah, but... its complicated," Buffy sighed sitting next to him again.

Alaric laughed a bit and leaned back to look at her, "what, are you in the C.I.A or something?"

This made Buffy chuckle and shake her head thinking back to the Initiative, "I'm really not."

"Alright so we can't talk about work... Tell me about where you and Dawn grew up. I've don't think I've ever heard of Sunnydale before," once again she could tell he was truly interested.

"Two hour drive from L.A., small town, turned into a crater," she said idly playing with her wine glass.

She felt more than saw him sit forward, "it turned into a crater?"

"Yep," Buffy looked up to notice him watching her intently clearly expecting an explanation she could never give him. "Its all pretty complicated and crazy," she dodged hurriedly.

"Clearly since it became a crater," he pointed out. "What about all your friends from there? Where'd they go? What do they do?"

"They spread out throughout the world, helping me with my, um, job," she nodded.

Alaric frowned realizing he was hitting a brick wall when it came to getting to know Buffy Summers. "What about your exes?" he tossed out in a last ditch effort. "What kind of guy do you usually date?"

A small frown creased her brow, "not you. All the relationships I've had were either far too complicated to wrap your head around or so pathetic they're beyond even mentioning."

Ric got up off the couch and paced for a moment before turning back to her. "Tell me something Buffy, anything; because other than your name, the fact that you're an American from California, and that you have a very self-reliant sister I really don't know anything about you." After Buffy sat there for a moment without answering he shook his head and reached for his coat, "you shut everybody out like this don't you? No one wonder Dawn's so self-reliant, clearly you're never there for her either." With that Alaric stormed out leaving Buffy to think over everything he'd just said.

Damon woke up fully clothed and wrapped around a warm feminine body, even before opening his eyes he knew who it was. The mixed smell of lilacs and blackberries hung so strongly about him he could practically taste it, taste _her_. He opened his eyes and watched as wafts of moonlight caressed her alabaster skin, beautiful. Damon carefully scented her skin, clean, healthy, no trace of the illness that had struck her this morning.

A hunger pain struck at him though and he knew he'd have to leave her if only for a little while. She would be fine and he needed to feed. Damon slowly, carefully extracted himself from her bed so not as to wake her. He paused at the door and turned back to her, gently ghosting a kiss over her brow he left.

Dawn groggily came to, a stream of sunlight making her violet walls glow ethereal, the sounds of Rome's many natives floating up to her room. Morning she realized, she'd slept all day yesterday. Dawn rolled over and stopped smelling the faintly clinging scent of Damon's cologne on her sheets where he had laid next to her. She rubbed her hand over the creases his body had left and wondered how long he'd stayed.

Her head snapped up when she realized the living room TV was on and someone was there. _Damon_, she thought, smiling slightly and crawled her way out of the bed. Dawn quickly got dressed in blue jeans and hoodie, slipping on tennis shoes as she went. She was rubbing the sleep out of her eyes as she wondered in, it wasn't Damon waiting for her though. It was Buffy there, walking around in her robe and slippers, making coffee. "Buffy," she groaned inwardly, "what are you doing home? I wasn't expecting you until tomorrow."

"Ric and I had a fight," her sister whined setting down a cup of coffee for each of them. Dawn ignored hers, coffee was what had sent her flying to the bathroom the day before. "Did you clean the house? It looks really nice," Buffy said looking around.

_No_, the brunette thought, _but Damon must have_. "What were you two fighting about?"

The blond looked up and pouted, "he said I was shutting him out... Just cause I can't talk to him about work, or my friends, or exes... or Sunnydale; but that doesn't mean I'm shutting him out." She pouted, "I don't shut people out, do I?"

Dawn circled the edge of her coffee cup with the tip of her finger as she thought over how to say it without her sister freaking out. She finally settled on the simple truth, "yah you kinda do; but I get why, there are some things you just can't tell anyone."

"You think I've been shutting _you_ out Dawn?" Buffy asked flabbergasted at the possibility.

The youngest Summers stayed staring at the counter top, refusing to meet her sisters eyes. "A bit, since we moved here, maybe even before then. Its like your going through that post-traumatic thing all over again," she frowned knowing her sister didn't like to acknowledge that she'd ever had PTSD.

"The post-traumatic thing? Again?" Buffy asked outraged. "I'm fine Dawn."

"Are you? You're hiding things, you're hurting, and not just in a I'm-fighting-for-my-life usual sort of way. I'm worried about you," Dawn finally looked up to watch her oldest sister.

Buffy how ever was so focused on her anger that instead of comforting her younger sibling she lashed out harshly, "well at least its only lately with me. You never let me in, even when Mom was alive you always wanted Spike more."

Dawn angrily snapped right back, "yes, because when I'd try to talk to you, you were always too busy with 'Buffy's special world' and 'Buffy's special friends' to even want to listen! Besides its not like I'm the only Summers' woman to turn to Spike over my _SISTER_!"

After a moment of silence in which they both made passing attempts at calming down, Dawn finally asked the question that had been plaguing her for months, years even. "Why were you so jealous of my friendship with Spike anyway?"

Buffy thought it over but she couldn't say that she wanted their relationship, to be able to be that close to each of them. Instead she jumped back into her anger, her old familiar friend, "I don't know Dawn, maybe it had something to do with the fact that my own sister would rather hang around a bunch of evil soulless demons than at home with me... Must be something to do with Glory, after all you did belong to her first." Buffy instantly regretted her harsh words, she could see the flickers of pain swimming in her sisters eyes.

Dawn slowly got up and grabbed her keys, she turned back just before leaving. "I don't belong to anyone. And as for choosing demons over you... at least I know they're going to stab me in the back." The brunette slammed the door and made her way down the stairs, never noticing the pack of demons waiting in the alley next to her building.

Damon was making his way back to the Summers' residence, he was so excited. He had wanted to pull Dawn away yesterday but today would be just as well. His ex-girlfriend Brigida had agreed to make them the amulet they need, all he had to do was come to Naples to get it. He just hoped Dawn would say yes to coming with him.

He was about to enter Dawn's building through the front door when he smelled the demons and heard a slight struggle. Damon stopped and turned towards the fight in the alley. He watched as a one came from behind knocking Dawn out cold and then whipped into action. Quickly snapping the necks of all four beast he looked at where Dawn laid, slight bruising along the side of her face.

Damon shrugged and lifted her up, making his way back to his car. Buffy wouldn't be back until tomorrow and he couldn't just leave her alone, more demons might show up. Damon seat belted her into the passenger's seat of his Pagani and started the car. _Well, at least this way she won't get to say no_, he thought.


	9. Chapter 9

Dawn slowly came to the sky tinting a bright pink and orange with the sunset, she became aware that she was in a car almost instantly. She turned slowly to find Damon next to her, driving the car. He glanced over at her for a moment, "jeez, do you always sleep through the day?"

"What's going on, Damon?" she asked as she slowly stretched in her seat. "Where are we?"

"Just outside of Naples, I know a witch there who's going to hook us up with our amulet," he explained watching her to make sure she was really okay after the fight this morning.

"Naples?" Dawn questioned. "I can't go to Naples Damon!" she was freaking out.

Damon rolled his eyes, "we're almost there."

"I'm gonna get in trouble," she pointed out.

"No you're not; Buffy's on that trip with her boy toy until tomorrow and we'll be back by then. She'll never even know," he pointed out.

The brunette gave him a long side long look, "she came back early."

"Uh oh," he sighed.

"Yep, I'm so dead," the teen nodded solemnly.

Damon thought for a moment, "damage done. Lets just get the amulet okay."

Dawn leaned back against her seat and thought for a long moment, watching the Italian countryside fall to the darkness of the setting sun. "Why'd you want to bring me for this anyway?"

"I need your expertise, to make sure this gets done right," he looked at the pretty young girl next to him. "Besides you're not the worst company in the world."

"Tell that to my sister," she mumbled quietly.

"Everything okay?" he questioned glancing at her carefully, she seemed sulky.

"Yah."

Damon fought not to roll his eyes, "okay then."

Dawn sighed, "Buffy and I had a fight, its no big." Damon nodded accepting that her issues were something private for her to worry about. "I just need some time away I guess," she conceded wisely.

The vampire looked at her, "gonna cut loose?"

"That's the plan," she grinned.

Buffy paced the length of the apartment for the millionth time before she groaned and called her sister's cell yet again. There was still no answer, "damn it," she muttered. Finally the blond decided to go work off some tension in the training house, packing up her bag she made her way out of the apartment. She stopped short coming out of her building when she noticed a crowd looking at something in the alley. "What's going on?" she asked one woman, then looking into the alley she saw them. Four demons laid with their necks all snapped, on one the bones were literally protruding the scaly skin. Her eyes widened but she noticed that there were no human bodies and no ambulances, still she had to ask. "Was anybody hurt?"

"No, just these... these.. things," the matronly woman next to her stuttered out.

Buffy nodded and quickly rushed back upstairs, shutting her apartment door firmly before she allowed her ensuing panic attack to take over. _Oh God, Dawnie where are you? _

Damon pulled up in front of a simple, almost American looking bar with the Brigida's over it in neon letters. "A bar?" Dawn questioned incredulously.

"Yes, Miss snooty watcher," he teased as he opened the door for her.

"I'm not snooty," she mumbled as she entered the darkened establishment.

Once inside a beautiful coco skinned Amazon bartender saw them and grinned widely. "Damon Salvatore," she greeted, jumping the bar. Dawn watched them in amazement, "my honey pie," the woman labeled him just before the two started making out.

Dawn watched utterly stunned by the scene for a moment until the two broke apart. At the bar the woman began pouring them each a shot, "Dawn this is my witchy exgirlfriend Brigida; Brigida this is Dawn, she's the key and a watcher," he gloated.

Brigida grinned, "the key! Really, what's it like, all that power must be amazing!"

The younger woman looked utterly surprised, "yah its great having hell Gods hunting you down and trying to kill you. Really, best time _ever_..." Dawn's sarcasm only made the witch chuckle and present Dawn with what was to be her shot.

"So how'd you get roped in by him?" Brigida questioned.

"I'm not roped... I'm just helping him open the tomb."

"Honey," the older woman pointed out wisely, "if you're not roped, you're whipped; either way just enjoy the ride." With that she took her shot and wondered off to fill someone else's order.

Damon watched Dawn for a moment drinking his shot before grabbing hers and downing it as well. When Brigida came back, leaving another bartender in charge, they headed into the back room to get the amulet made. Dawn watched as the witch pulled pure power into a simple amber necklace, charging it. "All done," she said after a moment handing the newly made amulet to Damon.

Dawn felt her phone vibrating in her pocket and quickly pulled it out, Buffy's number flashed across the screen. _Just what I need right now_, Dawn thought as she turned away to answer. "Hi Buffy," she sighed.

"Dawn are you okay? There were a bunch of dead demons outside, I was worried about you! Where are you?" The blond was clearly freaking out on the other end of the line.

"I'm fine Buffy. Just out with some..." Dawn glanced over a Damon, "friends."

The younger girl could hear her sister's sigh on the other end of the phone, "when will you be back?"

"I don't know... I just need some time to clear my head," she groaned so not wanting to go into it and hung up.

Brigida walked over to Dawn and laid a light hand on her shoulder, "problems at home honey?"

"It'll be okay," the young watcher asserted. Brigida nodded and left them to go take care of her bar.

Half an hour later Brigida was looking over at where Dawn and Damon sat alone together at a booth in the back eating a simple dinner. She picked up her phone and waited for an answer. "You'll never believe who just walked into my bar," she said while watching Damon carefully.

Dawn was picking at her plate, barely eating despite the slight hunger Damon could hear rumbling through her small body. Finally he sighed and decided that getting her mind off whatever had transpired with her sister before might be the best route. "So what would you like to do to cut loose?"

Dawn looked up and thought about it for a moment, biting on her lower lip as she did so. "How bout some drinks?" she finally decided.

He raised a brow at this but ordered them a bottle of Soriano Amaro anyway. Damon watched utterly amused as Dawn took a shot completely unfazed when the alcohol hit the back of her throat and poured another one. "I thought you didn't drink," he commented as he began pouring himself a drink.

Dawn took three consecutive shots before she answered him, "I don't." She poured yet another, and shook her head smiling at him, "but that doesn't mean I don't know how to."

Buffy was sitting on the couch staring at the wall, Dawn had hung up on her, that had never happened before. Her phone began to ring and she jumped from it without looking at who was calling, "Dawn?"

"No," Ric answered. "I was just... checking to make sure you made it home okay." He paused and Buffy waited, "is something wrong?"

"I just had a fight with Dawn, and stormed out angry. I'm just worried about her," the blond paused. "I'm sorry I haven't been more open with you Ric, I'm not very good at it even with my own family as it turns out. But if you're willing I'd like to give it a shot," she waited for his answer.

"Alright," he sighed after a moment.

A short chubby man with a beard walked into the bar and took a seat at the counter ordering a bear, he barely glanced at where Dawn and Damon now stood drinking with another couple. She was mainly focused on the hot blond woman with large breast she was laughing and talking with, and Damon was busy watching her. Damon watched with a wicked grin as Dawn leaned down pulling a shot glass from between the older woman's bared breast. Slamming the glass down she licked the line of salt from her neck, she then pulled the lime from her mouth and tossed it over her shoulder to Damon, before slipping the blond her tongue. Damon's mouth damn near hit the floor as he watched them make out and wondered if her sister or boyfriend for that matter would ever get to see this side of her.

When they pulled apart Damon leaned into Dawn's ear and asked her to dance with him. Surprisingly she agreed and let him lead her away from the bar. Damon noticed she was slightly tipsy as she relaxed into his arms, a slow sweet melody coming on.

"You like dancing huh?" she asked as she swayed against him.

"Yah I do," he answered before quickly swirling her around and catching her again. Dawn giggled, "I never knew you could this fun."

She pressed the tip of her tongue to her teeth and smirked, "I bet there's lots you don't know about me Mr. Salvatore."

He jerked her forward so that she was pressed into him from chest to hip, "can't wait to find out Miss Summers."

Dawn stumbled back after a moment, "I'm gonna go... use the bathroom." With that she walked off towards the back rooms alone.

The chubby man from the bar followed her to the bathroom and walked up behind her as she was washing her face in the sink. Dawn didn't see any reflection in the mirror because he didn't have one, the vampire made quick work of knocking her out.

Brigida noticed Damon standing alone and came over to him, "where'd your friend go?"

Damon looked around and didn't see her anywhere, "I don't know." He got up and checked the bathroom, there was no Dawn there so he went outside and looked around. She wasn't by the car so he carefully began sniffing the air and followed the sweet smell of her into a nearby alley. Damon looked around but still didn't see or hear her anywhere and this was where her scent had ended. Suddenly a shovel hit the back of his head, making his vision swim black and spotted.

Dawn slowly blinked her eyes open and squirmed slightly noticing that her mouth was gagged and her arms tied behind her. She lay behind a pile of crates in a back alley way with a pounding headache. Dawn quickly wiggled the straight razor she always carried in her back pocket out, thankful that Spike had deemed it an appropriate birthday gift two years prior. Cutting through the ropes holding her she got up and saw the chubby man from the bar pouring gasoline on Damon in the alley.

"Who are you?" Damon managed to rasp out as the other man doused him in gasoline.

"My name is Rodrigo Gustaves," the man shouted down at him. "You murdered my sister sixty years ago! I've been waiting for this for a very long time."

The man had the lit match in his hand and was about to throw it on Damon when Dawn picked up the shovel he had dropped and knocked him over the head with it. Damon watched as she brought the sharp end of the shovel down beheading the other vampire. She reached down as he dusted helping Damon up, "your karma sucks," she informed him sourly.

"I've noticed," he assured her.

They checked into a small hotel room the night, it was nearly sunrise again already and Damon was badly in need of a shower. Dawn looked around noticing there was only one bed. He stopped her grabbing her arm and pulled her towards him. "Thank you," he whispered. Damon leaned forward almost kissing her, their lips were almost brushing, he could feel the warmth of her breath and taste the sweetness of her.

"You smell like gasoline," she whispered and pulled away, breaking the possibility of a kiss.

Damon nodded and went to take a shower, letting the hot water wash away his stress and fatigue along with the chemical smell. When he came back to the main room he found Dawn laying unconscious on the bed. He headed back to Brigida's to confront her; there was no way Rodrigo could find him on his own. "You tried to kill me," he pointed out.

Brigida turned to face him and sighed, the pain over their break finally showing in her face. "Somebody needs to," she whispered.

"Not cool," he shook his head at her foolishness, he wasn't called the Immortal for nothing. "And what about the amulet? Will it even work?"

"Yes, I didn't want to risk that girl getting hurt," Brigida paused. "She's too good for you Damon, the keys a thing of purity and light."

"I don't intend to hurt her," he grimaced moving towards the witch.

"You never do," she pointed out sadly.

Damon placed a light kiss upon her lips and whispered "I'm sorry," just before ripping her heart out and leaving her.

When Dawn arrived home the next day she found Buffy sitting on the couch in her robe. The brunette shut the door and they remained staring at each other for a long moment until they finally said in unison, "I don't want to loose you." The sisters burst into laughter, breaking the tension and hugged each other for the first time in over a year.


	10. Chapter 10

Dawn rolled and bounced back up on the other side of the training room, Buffy quickly followed her lunging across the room. "So what am I supposed to tell him then?" the blond asked her younger sister as they sparred.

Dawn dodged to the left and knocked her sister down with a swift round house kick, "well assuming the truth is out of the question," she gasped out. "You could start with telling him about mom, or your friendships with Willow and Xander," she blocked a punch and jumped back again. "Tell Ric about why we chose Rome, or about how Giles was your father figure in Dad's absence, or hell Buffy tell him about how much you enjoy helping people."

Buffy blocked a blow from her sister, catching her arm and tossing her back across the room. "You gotta a point there," she grinned watching Dawn get back up, pride filling her. "So what about you Dawnie, how're things going with Marcus"

"We kissed," Dawn shrugged.

Both sisters were done for the day satisfied with their workouts and headed for the locker rooms. "And?" the blond prompted.

"It was okay," was her answer as she got ready for her shower.

"Okay?" Buffy laughed. When Dawn still hadn't responded a moment later she felt the near to comfort her sister, "I like him. It's good that you've found someone that nice and normal to be with."

"Yah," Dawn flashed the dutifully happy smile at her sister, unable to tell her that she couldn't stand normal.

"I can't think of a better guy for you to be with," the blond gently rubbed her arm and went to get cleaned up.

The brunette looked down, images of Damon swimming through her head but then she dismissed them. "Me either," she whispered.

_Three Years Ago _

_"I love you Isobel," Alaric whispered as he wrapped his arms around his petite brunette wife, hugging her as she finished packing. "Mmm... why am I going on this trip again?" she asked as she leaned back into his embrace. Isobel was going to Rome for three weeks to fulfill her grandfather's life long wish and have his ashes spread there. _

_Ric leaned down kissing her cheek, "because its important to the people who are important to you." _

_"Oh yeah," she nodded and moved to zip her last suitcase. They kissed goodbye at the door, "I'll see you in three weeks honey," she called back as she left. _

Today

Ric was standing in front of Luchos, a popular night club, mentally preparing himself for the questions he was about to asks its bartenders. He walked into the flashy setting, slowly making his way through the throngs of young people, laughing and dancing about. He stopped at the bar ordering a beer before he started his questioning. "Excuse me can I ask a few questions?" he asked the bartender working when she had a free moment.

"Sure honey," the busty woman grinned.

Ric pulled out a picture of his wife "my wife, she came here about three years ago. She never came home again, I'm looking for anyone that might be able to point me in the right direction."

"Oh, I'm sorry," the woman genuinely nodded leaning over the bar towards him. "I do remember her though, she was here with a couple of other people. Laughter lit up the whole bar, even drew the Immortal in."

"The Immortal?" Ric asked. He'd heard a couple of times about his wife being seen with this Immortal in Rome. From what he'd learned the guy was a vampire, and apparently very old.

"Yes, he is the most vibrant of men. Rome, eh, has always been his city, he is in and out of everywhere in this city. The Immortal is, eh, well he had many... lady friends, frequently, though they do not always make it home." The bartender poured him a refill, as he absorbed the information. "Though he has not been out lately I hear, apparently," she leaned closer and dropped her voice a bit. "He has been seen only with one woman of late, some pretty young brunette American thing."

"Any clue who she is?" Ric asked.

"No, afraid not, he's been keeping it under wraps from everyone it seems."

Alaric was sitting there trying to figure out who this new girl was but coming up with a blank. "Do you know where I could find this Immortal guy?"

"Simply put honey, don't," she nodded walking away. "Drinks are on the house," the bartender called over her shoulder.

Dawn sat at the table the Grundum Text spread open before her as she worked to translate the passages within. She was reading a particular section about the monks sealing Katherine in the tomb. "Hey," Dawn said, calling Damon over to from where he was cooking her dinner. "According to this the book containing the original spell the monks used was acquired by Pope Urban the 8th in 1628 and is part of the Vatican's private papal library still."

Damon walked around to stand behind her chair and look over her shoulder, "the Pope has it?"

"So it would seem," she sighed looking over her shoulder at him. "Can you get it or is it one of those things where we're going to have to steal it?"

He looked at her, meeting her pretty blue eyes, "steal it."

"Fun," she drawled. Dawn got up to check on the garlic basil wine sauce they were making.

He moved to set out plates for them, "so what do I say if Buffy comes in?"

"That you're my friend, Damon," he turned his head to watch her stirring the sauce.

_I don't want to be her friend_, Damon reflected to himself. "And you're okay with that?" he asked.

"No, but it'll have to do," she pointed out and held out the spoon for him to take a taste from.

"Mmm," he murmured tasting the sauce.

Dawn tried to turn and head towards the table to beginning serving up their meal when Damon brushed intentionally against her chest, rubbing her breast to the point of aching. "Don't do that," she warned lightly.

"Do what?" he asked grabbing the salad from the counter top.

She turned back to him and waved her hands in a very Italian way, "that."

He finished serving and followed her to where she was grabbing the salad dressing from the fridge. Damon moved towards her as she closed the door and pinned her with her back to the large white appliance. "We almost kissed, you know; when you were drunk..."

"I remember," she acknowledged calmly.

"I wanted you to. I still want you to," he admitted brushing the side of her face with careful fingertips.

Dawn looked at him for a long moment in silence before she responded, "I don't."

Damon sniffed the air around her smelling the musky scent of her arousal, shaking his head, "yes you do."

She shook her head slowly, "no I don't." His eyes traced her delicate features as she looked down for a moment and then back up, meeting his gaze. "I don't... because if I do I'll loose."

"Loose what?"

Dawn pushed past him and went to finish making her plate, "me," came her whispered answer.

Buffy was going on a quick patrol tonight, she liked the chance to go alone since most the time she had a group of girls bouncing between seeking her wisdom, worshiping her, or just down right rebelling against her orders. Sometimes having thousands of slayers around to was down right exhausting. Suddenly her senses picked up and she felt a vampire following behind her, it would be easiest to dispense of in a less populated area.

Ric was just coming out of Luchos when he saw walking a block and a half away, she was being followed by what was clearly a vampire and didn't seem to notice it. He hurried to catch up, checking to make sure his stake was at hand.

The vampire was so entrenched in following the seemingly clueless blond that he hadn't even picked up on the man that had begun following him, closing in quickly.

After three more blocks Buffy was beginning to get satisfied that she was far enough away from the human populace to easily stake the vampire without any notice.

Alaric was right behind the vampire, pulling out his stake quickly and quietly he staked the vampire. Tossing the stake behind a trash can he watched as Buffy suddenly turned back at the noise and jumped.

"Ric!" she exclaimed, putting a hand to her chest. The blond slayer had been so sure that a vampire had been following her the last several blocks but when she'd turned Ric had been the only one there. "God you scared me," she gasped, truly afraid that she might have accidentally staked him.

"Sorry, I just saw you walking and thought I'd catch up and say hi," he grinned, the lie slipping easily from his tongue.

Buffy laughed, "I knew I felt like I was being followed."

Ric's brow came up slightly, "well I'm sorry to have worried you."

"I'm just paranoid I guess," she sighed. "Look I was actually wondering if maybe you'd wanna come over for dinner?"

"Tonight?" he asked surprised.

"Too spontaneous," she frowned.

"No its fine, I wouldn't mind eating actually," with that they headed back to the Summers' residence.

Dawn looked up from her plate of food at the door when Buffy came in, the older Summers' woman along with her date looked at the younger girl and her guest in question. "Uh, hello," Buffy said slowly eyeing the strange, hot, older man sitting with her sister.

The brunette looked at Damon and then back to her sister, "um... Buffy this is my friend Damon, Damon this is my sister Buffy and my history teacher Mr. Saltzman."

Ric looked from the sister's with a slight smile, "feel free to call me Ric."

"Friend huh? In what capacity?" the blond ventured skeptically.

"In the capacity in which we're friends," he smirked, taking a sip of his wine.

"Damon's having me help him translate his family history and sometimes we just hang," the younger girl clarified.

Buffy nodded and came further into the kitchen, "you guys made dinner?"

Dawn got up to grab two more plates, "he did most of the cooking."

Ric came to sit at the table across from Damon, he could feel something off about the man and wondered what it was. "So what do you do Damon?"

"I'm a collector of rarities, Ric," the vampire answered easily. Damon turned to Buffy as she sat across from him, handing Ric his plate. "I heard you approve of Dawn's little boyfriend, that's good. I remember when my father was still around he never approved anyone I dated, it only served to distance us from each other."

"Well Mark's a nice young man, the perfect boy _her own age _for her to date," the slayer quipped subtly and Dawn sighed into her glass of water.

Damon knew of Buffy's own history in dating older men and while he very much wanted Dawn he wasn't about to let that comment go unchecked. "I agree entirely, although I do worry."

"Worry?" Ric asked watching Dawn carefully.

"Yes," the pale brunette man answered. "I've noticed that when Dawn's with Marcus she's... distant and afterwards she's always quieter." He looked over at the young woman next to him and patted her hand gently, almost fatherly. Both Buffy's and Ric's brows shot up at the movement. "I worry that perhaps she's not really happy with him and only seeks to make someone else happy by being with him."

Dawn pulled back from him and began clearing her plate. The blond girl looked at her little sister's wondering if it was true at all. Damon inwardly smiled knowing he had struck a cord with both women and began clearing his own plate. "Well I really must be going, thanks for dinner Dawn," he smiled and she nodded. "It was nice meeting both of you, especially you Buffy," he said as he picked up his coat and departed the apartment building.

Once he was gone Buffy got up to join Dawn at the sink. "Is he right?" she whispered still very much aware that Ric was still there.

"It's none of his business what my relationship with Marcus is," the younger girl bit out somewhat angrily.

"Dawnie," the slayer pleaded turning Dawn toward her. "Is he right? Are you unhappy with Mark? Its okay if you are," she affirmed.

"Marcus and I are fine, Damon's just.. I don't know.. Damon I guess, he likes to make a big deal out of nothing and try to push peoples' buttons sometimes I think."

The blond nodded understanding this, "Spike was like that too."

"Yah, I think that's why Damon and I get along like we do," the brunette admitted. She looked at where Ric was still sitting at the table, pretending to eat and give them a modicum of privacy. "I'm gonna go work on my homework, have fun with your date," she whispered. "Nice to see you again Mr. Saltzman," she called from her bedroom door.

Buffy sat across from Alaric at the kitchen table, resting her head in her hands. "I don't know how to you deal with this," she groaned.

"With what?" he questioned quietly.

"Teenagers," she laughed. "I worked as a peer councilor at Dawn's high school last year," Buffy shook her head, "and it was like I could help everyone else... understand everyone else but never Dawn."

Ric rubbed the back of her hand with his thumb, "probably because you're so close to her."

"No," the blond shook her head, "no, I'm not. I wish I was but my last ex was closer to her than I ever was. Dawn's just always had this... darker part of herself that I could never quite relate to."

"Well, from what I've seen Dawn loves you very much, so maybe she just needs to feel like even if you can't relate to her 'darker side' you can still accept that its just part of who she is," he suggested cautiously.

Buffy smiled and leaned forward kissing Ric tenderly, "see that's why I like you so much. Your brainy in a good way."

He chuckled, "glad to be of service."

"Hey," the blond started, "do you like to workout?"


	11. Chapter 11

Dawn was headed home after a _very_ long patrol, she didn't understand how anyone her age and even two or three years old could be so immature. No wonder there had been only one slayer in the past before, if you had any more than that the watchers would inevitably want to kill them themselves. She knew she did.

The tall brunette let out a wistful sigh as she rounded the corner just two blocks from her home. She ran directly into the frail linen covered chest of a holy man. "Excuse me, father," she said without paying him much attention. This was Rome, the homeland of Catholicism after all.

The man caught her arm and stopped her, "Miss Summers, please I need to speak to you." Dawn looked at him carefully, he wore a broach over his robes with the Order of Brashit seal upon it. Except all these monks had been killed off, _hadn't_ they?

"Who are you?" she calmly speculated.

"I have no name, it is something one must give up when they take God's most divine orders," the man whispered fervently. "I'm the last of my order though," he laughed bitterly after a moment. "I come to plead with you, do not open that tomb."

Dawn carefully nudged him into the shadows along side the building away from prying eyes, and ears. "You're from the Order of Brashit?" the man nodded hurriedly. "Why shouldn't I open that tomb?"

Michael stood across the street watching Dawn converse with the monk. It seemed she was about to find a reason not to give his master what he wished for most. Michael nodded to the purple scaled demon next to him, sending it across the street to deal with their little problem.

"Why shouldn't I open that tomb?" Dawn asked. The nameless monk before her never got a chance to answer though. She was thrown back by a demon, covered in purple scales, it walked on two feet but used its overly long arms to steady its gait. Within seconds it was on the man tearing and ripping at his throat. Dawn was barely shaking off her initial blow when it quickly ran off into the night.

She quickly got up and checked on the badly injured man, "pao var ao... vernda hana." Dawn looked at he man not understanding the words but he was already gone. She removed his not bloodstained broach and took off. The young girl quickly raced home to clean the spray of blood from her clothes and hair. She needed to call Damon about this.

Michael watched her run away and then nodded to again to the demon, "go ahead and take him home to feed your children. I'll have the sidewalk cleaned."

Dawn had just finished with her shower and called Damon. "Yes Dawnie?" he drawled.

She rolled her eyes and continued towel drying her hair, "I need you here, nowish."

"I'm on my way," he answered sensing the trouble in her voice.

Within twenty minutes Damon found himself sitting on her bed watching her comb out her still damp hair. "How'd he find you?" Damon asked. He couldn't believe it one of the monks had found her, he had been so sure they were all dead.

"I don't know," she shook her head.

"And you're sure it was him, I mean that he was one of the monks of the order?"

Dawn reached over and grabbed a bloody seal from her ruined jacket pocket and slammed it down on her comforter. "Yah, I'm pretty sure."

"Damn," he muttered.

"Is there some reason you're not telling me about that I shouldn't open that tomb for?" she asked as she rubbed lotion into her hands, all part of her nighttime ritual.

Damon shook his head, "none that I'm aware of."

She stared down at her comforter for a long moment, "the monk was about to tell me something, I think he was trying to and somehow my translating abilities failed me. He said 'pao var ao vernda hana.'"

The vampires brow furrowed, "what does that mean?"

"Don't know, and worst of all not even Google translate knows," she groaned. "I'm sure it was something important, I mean it was his dying words and nothing."

Damon laughed, "you put it in Google translate? What kind of lame watcher are you?"

"The lamest, the site said it was Portuguese, except I speak Portuguese and that was no Portuguese." Dawn leaned back against the headboard. "We need to get in that tomb Damon."

He looked at her, "I've said that before."

Her blue eyes flashed, "we need to first break into the Vatican secret library and steal a book, an offense I'm pretty sure you can be executed for."

He stroked her leg carefully, "I won't let you get executed, besides I can't die."

"Very comforting," she moaned.

"So got any plans for tomorrow night?" he teased.

Dawn laughed, "I do now."

The next afternoon Buffy was on her way out to meet Ric and get in some one on one training. She opened the door to leave only to find Marcus there about to knock. "Hello, Miss Buffy," he greeted brightly. "I am here for my date with Dawn, she said it was a stay-home-and-watch-movies thing," he smiled.

"Oh yah, come on in, I was just heading out," Buffy smiled at him, suddenly unsure.

Despite Dawn's reassurances she was still worried that Dawn wasn't really happy with the boy and might only be dating him to make her happy.

"Hey Marcus," Dawn smiled coming out of her bedroom.

Buffy watched as she came to hug the boy but he snaked in a kiss, one Dawn almost dodged entirely as though she hadn't really wanted it. It only served to affirm what that strange man Damon had hinted at before. Still she left the two alone, if Dawn didn't want to date him that was something she'd have to face alone.

An hour later the blond found herself laughing at her own date. She and Ric had been on the treadmill for thirty minutes now and he was absolutely exhausted trying to keep up with her. Once the time for their cardio workout was done they both went to stretch against the wall, he was practically dripping from sweat. While Buffy could tell he worked out she was more than willing to bet that he didn't work out like this very often.

"Jesus, Buffy," he groaned. "I don't know how you do it, you must be in the most amazing shape I've ever witnessed."

She laughed a bit and stretched out her arms getting ready to lift weights, "I like to work out. It helps me deal with stress and burn off the extra energy."

"Yah," he nodded and went to a weight lifting machine himself. "I picked up on it a lot more when my wife went missing. It was something to... take up the time and help me push past all the worry and everything else."

Dawn was laying on her bed with Marcus on top of her, he was pushing into her and all she could think of was Damon. How different this moment would be if Damon were the one taking her virginity. _Shouldn't I be thinking of Marcus_, she asked herself.

Marcus tore into her tender virgin flesh and she let out a grunt, pushing past the pain. He slowly began thrusting into her, moaning quietly. Dawn however just fought to stay still until it was done. Luckily it didn't take Marcus long to finish and roll off of her.

"You okay, bambina?" he questioned disposing of his used condom.

The brunette sighed and got up to clean the blood from her thighs, "yah, I'll be fine."

Marcus followed her into the bathroom and wrapped his arms around her at the sink. "You seem distant lately mi bella," he whispered kissing the side of her head.

Dawn took a deep breath, _how could she do this to him_? He was the perfect guy. Still she lied, "yah I'm just still kind of feeling the residual angst from my fight with Buffy a couple of weeks ago." He hugged and told her it would get better in time. She said goodnight to him and went ahead to take her shower, the rest of the night would be very long indeed.

Damon met up with Dawn two hours after sunset, on the Borgo Pio road just outside the Vatican City. He took one smell of her and scowled slightly, she had let that boy have her but she denied him even a kiss. "You ready?" Dawn asked looking at the walls around the city wondering how they were planning to cross it.

"Lets go," he growled. _Go, get the book, get Katherine back, and let the world go back to the way its supposed to be, _he angrily thought. Damon led Dawn to the sewer chamber that would lead them into the papal city.

Once inside they quickly made their way into the Apostle library and Dawn began wiring the elevator to take them into the private library below. The two decided to split up to look for the book separately, since the library was so extensive. Dawn found the book and was making her way back to find Damon and let him know when she ran into one of the Swiss guards. "Shit," she muttered seeing him.

Before the guard was able to move Damon came up behind him and snapped his neck. Her eyes bulged somewhat but she had somewhat expected this kind of behavior from him. "Told you I wouldn't let you get caught," he muttered and took her hand to begin leading her out.

They dodged past another group of guards before they made it out of the city and Dawn was able to hack into the video systems and erase all proof of them coming. Once back at Damon's house Dawn laid the book down on his coffee table and turned giddily to give him a hug. She felt him stiffen under her touch and pulled back, he'd been distant all night. "What's wrong Damon?"

He bit out contritely, "nothing, we got what we came for and that's that."

Dawn couldn't believe what had happened, Damon was acting like a complete stranger. "No seriously Damon, what's going on? We got the book, you should be happy," she pointed out.

"Yah, I should be," he admitted pouring himself a drink.

Dawn moved towards him, "so what's wrong?"

He took a drink and then slammed down his glass, "what's wrong Dawn? You let him touch you... you let him touch you and you don't even like him! That doesn't strike you as wrong?"

Her brow furrowed, "why do you even care Damon?" She pointed to the book, "that, everything we've been doing is all so you can be with Katherine again. So what does it matter?"

Damon moved closer to her until he was standing just in front of her, "what if it wasn't? What if you were the one I wanted to be with? If I walked away from Katherine for you, what then?" His voice dropped, he couldn't believe he was even considering the possibility.

"I can't ask you to give that up for me just like you can't ask me to give up on myself for you, that's too selfish for either of us." Dawn stepped forward until she was wrapping her arms around him carefully, knowing there was so much more to it than that.

Damon wrapped his arms around her and held her close for a long moment, "I know but I still want you to."


	12. Chapter 12

"So should we finish decorating the tree tonight or do it tomorrow with everyone here?" Buffy wondered. Both she and Dawn tilted their heads to view the empty tree they had just struggled in getting up. "Tomorrow," both answered in sync and went back to watching a Charlie Brown Christmas. "This is funnier in Italian," Buffy said after a moment.

"Be even further funnier if Xander was here doing his dance," Dawn snorted.

The blond laughed, "yah it would be funny to see him trying to keep up with the Italian singing."

"So you invited Ric huh?" Dawn grinned, happy to see Buffy was done sleeping with random guys.

Buffy got up to get a glass of orange juice, "yah, no one should be alone for Christmas, you know."

The brunette looked down for a second thinking it over, Buffy was right. "I like Ric," she put in as she headed for the door.

"Wait, where are you going?"

Dawn called back over her shoulder, "there's something I gotta do."

Damon was building up the fire in his parlor when Dawn came bouncing in. He hadn't seen and had rarely spoken to her since their trip to the Vatican when he'd offered to give up Katherine for her. "Thought you'd be spending the holiday with your family," he said poking the fire a bit.

"Oh, I am," she chirped up, "but I thought you'd like to join us."

He got up and looked at her, brow furrowed, "you're inviting me over for Christmas dinner?"

"Well Christmas Eve dinner..."

Damon continued as though Dawn hadn't interrupted him, "Christmas Eve dinner, with you're sister, her boyfriend... and you're boyfriend?"

She nodded, "and two other slayers."

He nodded and stalked towards her, "I see. So you trust me around your family, your work, and now the boyfriend you know I hate."

Dawn swallowed, "I thought you might be alone for the holiday."

"So?"

"No one should be alone on Christmas, my mother wouldn't have liked it. I get it if you don't to want to come but the offer still stands," Dawn saw his eyes soften and decided it might be best to just leave him; a vulnerable Damon was often a dangerous Damon.

Dawn was working on stirring the gravy while Sasha, one of the two slayers joining them, was rolling out the dough for homemade biscuits. Buffy was helping Ric get the star centered on the tree, and Marcus and Grace, the other slayer, were playing a video game in the living room. All heads in the room turned towards the door when they heard the knock.

Dawn turned down the heat and went to answer it, she smiled seeing Damon there. "Glad you decided to come," she looked at where his arms were full. "What's with the stuff?"

"Thanks for inviting me," he whispered so she'd be the only one to hear. "I brought a traditional Italian cake, a nice single malt, and such."

Buffy stepped forward and took the baker box from him along with the bottle of Scotch. "Let me help you with that," she smiled and put them down on the kitchen table.

"What's in the bag?" Ric asked motioning to a long dark clothing bag Damon still held.

"Actually its a bribe for Dawn..." he smiled a hello to the three guest he didn't know. Marcus immediately dismissed him and went back to the game he was playing making Damon like him even less than before.

"Bribe me?" the little watcher frowned.

"I have a big work colleague holiday party New Year's Eve and between asking you and taking some brainless pretty wannabe model... well it'd be a more interesting evening if it were you, even with the lack of sex I'd be getting." He explained handing her the dress bag and waiting for her answer.

"Wow, that almost sounded like a compliment Dawnie," Buffy teased.

Dawn looked at where Marcus sat, he looked at her and the fool seemed to think she was asking his permission. "It's fine by me bambina, I'll be leaving in the morning to visit my grandfather and won't be back until the third of the month anyway."

"Fine," she answered. "What time is it?"

"I'll send a car around at eight but it might run kind of late," he warned, looking a Buffy to measure the slayer for any indication that she might say no.

The brunette didn't bother asking permission and just nodded, "alright I'll just crash in one of your spare bedrooms then."

Damon frowned a bit, he hadn't expected that Dawn would even consider spending the night or that her sister would allow it. "Okay, I'll make sure to have one ready for when we come in then."

Later that night Dawn was just finishing passing out presents amongst all the guests, as usual Buffy had the most. She handed Damon a gift and he looked up from where he had been sitting discussing the iconography of her homeland, Russia. She smiled as he reached behind him and handed her the wrapped package he had carried in. It was surprisingly heavy as she went to sit next to Ric and Marcus.

"Okay everyone, tear in," Buffy prompted as she began ripping into her gifts.

Damon opened the gift Dawn had gotten him, inside he found a note on written on the inside of the wrap in her handwriting. 'Ready to open the tomb. Just need one last ingredient.' He looked up at her and winked with a smirk, letting her know he'd gotten the note. The gift itself made him grin even wider, it was a bottle of a drink popular amongst demons called Bourgendaise'. The drink was made from a mixture of human blood, giraffe blood, Bourbon, and honeyed cloves. It was hard to get, you usually had to go through a black market dealer to get even a fifth of it, much a bottle the size she'd gotten him.

Dawn had moved Damon's gift to her to the bottom of her pile so that it would be the last thing she opened. She knew for a fact that no one else in the apartment would understand what she'd gotten him. But opening his gift with a crowd watching seemed a scary aspect indeed. Finally she came to the gift and slowly began unwrapping it.

"Come on, Dawnie, open it so we can see what he got you," Buffy encouraged as she watched her sisters slow movements.

Damon's icy blue eyes met Dawn's as she glanced up and opened the box containing the gift. She looked down and almost instantly burst into tears, there in the box nestled in a pile of protective tissue paper sat Kokopelli carved in a beautiful red jade. "He was my mom's favorite," she glanced up at him, tears gleaming in her eyes. Dawn shook her head, "no one's ever... done anything..." She started to cry and Damon was instantly kneeling before her wiping away her tears and setting the box to the side.

Marcus was left to stare at the ground, as he allowed another man to comfort his girlfriend. Both of the newer slayers and Ric headed into the kitchen to begin clean up duty. Buffy glanced in the box and shuddered remembering making Dawn get rid of their mom's copy of the statue.

Damon wrapped his hands in Dawn's hair and placed a gentle kiss to her forehead. "I thought you'd like it..." He sighed, "please stop crying."

She nodded and wiped the tears away, "I do like it... It just made me think of mom, guess I'm just missing her more than I realized."

"I miss my mom too," he confided quietly before he got up and cajoled the party back into a light hearted fun affair again.

Dawn took a deep breath steadying herself as she stepped out of the elevator inside the Wolfram & Hart building on Damon's arm. She was wearing the floor length red satin dress with black lace trim Damon had bought her. He wore a fitted black suit with a red tie that matched her dress perfectly.

"You look beautiful," he assured her and she nodded and gave him a small smile.

"I know, it's just kind of daunting to just go walking into Wolfram & Hart," she whispered as Damon handed her a glass of champagne.

He chuckled, "I'm older than they are, you know."

"Guess they're not that daunting then," she smirked a bit.

It was nearly midnight and the party was in full swing and getting louder as the hour approached. Damon looked around wondering where his date for the evening had run off to. He looked around the main lobby area and finally caught sight of the tail end of her dress in one of the window's to a large private office.

"Hey, what are you doing in here?" he asked joining her.

Dawn stood staring out the windows taking in the view of the ancient Roman city. "Just needed a break, time to breath, all that. There's lots of power in there, it was making my skin burn a little."

"It does that," he acknowledged. Damon gently stroked a path down her arms trying to soothe her as much as he could.

"It's almost midnight," she whispered and turned to look up at him.

He nodded, "I know."

They stood staring into each others eyes as they heard the crowds outside begin counting down the seconds until the New Year. "You gonna kiss me?" Dawn whispered as she leaned towards him slowly.

Damon leaned down, sliding his fingers through her long dark hair. He pressed a light kiss to one bare shoulder and skimmed his breath up her neck, before nibbling her jaw lightly. "Definitely," he whispered before he pressed his lips to hers. Dawn sighed into the kiss, opening her lips as she let her hands rest on his shoulders. He slid his tongue along the seam of her lips, tasting her. His hands wrapped around her small waist and slid down along her curves until he was cupping her hips. Dawn moaned and pressed against him more fully, her mouth opening further before she caught his lower lip between her teeth and began sucking it gently. Damon turned them and lifted Dawn onto the desk, sliding one hand under dress to skim up the inside her creamy thigh.

"Oh excusi," a surprised woman's voice broke in.

Damon turned to find Ilona standing in the doorway, and took a step away from Dawn. He hid her body from the lawyer's view as she righted her clothes. "This is your office?"

"Yes," the large breasted Italian woman smiled wryly.

He nodded, "my apologies then."

She shook her head, "it's alright. It's too good to see young lovers together."

"We're not lovers," Damon corrected and she gave him a look that said she didn't believe that one bit. Damon led Dawn away with him and they excused themselves from the party.

Once inside the room Damon had prepared for her Dawn stopped surveying the room. Everything from the bedding to the curtains was covered in a beautiful blue green color hue that was both relaxing and luxurious. Damon was standing behind her as she surveyed the room carefully, catching sight of her over night bag on the arm chair against the far wall.

He was deathly aware that she hadn't said anything since they'd kissed before. "You okay?" he finally queried.

"Do it again," she answered. Damon's brow furrowed in utter confusion as Dawn turned towards him and repeated her self, "do it again."

He stepped forward slowly, unsure of how serious she might be. Damon slipped a finger under each strap of her dress and let the garment fall in a shimmer of ruby fabric to her feet. Dawn stood before him calm and accepting in only her strapless red lace bra and matching panties.

Damon pressed his lips to hers and felt Dawn's hands push his jacket away. He pulled back and went to close and lock the door before he returned to her pulling his tie off as he went. Damon nearly attacked her bow shaped mouth this time, he dipped his tongue within, tasting the beauty before him. The small watcher's hands quickly ripped and pulled at the buttons of his shirt, rushing to reach the taut flesh beneath. He leaned down to place a kiss on the top of her right breast, his hands stroking over her back until he came to the clasp holding her bra up. Damon practically moaned as the lacy fabric fell away and he felt the warmth of Dawn's soft skin press against his own. He quickly shrugged out of the shirt he had been wearing and pressed Dawn backwards onto the bed.

Once there he caught her lips again, their tongues dancing fervently as her nails drew ragged red stripes down his biceps. Damon moved down her body, cupping one breast while he drew the other into his mouth. He looked up and grinned as his tongue flicked one taut nipple before circling it slowly. Dawn lay moaning and gasping in pleasure beneath him.

Again he moved down her body, fingers gently stroking the wet fabric over her groin. The brunette let out a quick rasping pant as Damon placed his mouth over her and suckled the flesh there. He slid his hands over her hips almost reverently as he looped a finger into her panty line and began removing the fabric. Damon pulled the panties off and dropped them over the end of the bed, unlacing the wrap around ties of the heels she was wearing and leaving her naked before him.

He grinned looking her over, she was flushed from the tops of her head all the way down onto her lovely breasts. Damon skimmed his teeth up over her calf, letting his breath trail onto the underside of her knee before nipping it gently. Dawn arched her back and let out a low grunt at the feel of it. When he moved further up, pushing her legs apart and licking the insides of her thighs she got light headed and was certain she might faint from the sensations wracking her body.

Damon looked up at her to watch her reactions as he worked, his tongue sliding against her already moist clit. He parted her folds carefully before pushing two fingers into her warm core. She was so tight around him, already clenching slightly just from that. Damon pumped his fingers as his tongue flicked her folds again and again in time with the movement of his hand. Dawn was clawing the sheets as he pulled back and inserted a third finger, pumping her hard again. Damon wrapped his lips around her clit and suckled the puckered nerve bundle hard until she let out a screeching wail.

He chuckled and kicked off his shoes as she began unbuttoning his pants. Damon quickly kicked the garment away and slid his fingers back into her depths, stroking slowly until he was well and truly sure she was ready for him. Dawn watched as he removed his soaking wet fingers and slid them around his already hard shaft, using her juices as a lubricant.

Damon sat on his knees between her wide spread thighs and positioned himself. He ran one hand up her flat stomach, sliding over one ample breast, and finally cupped the side of her face gently. The other hand propped him up as he began pushing the tip of his phallus inside her.

Damon had dreamed of this moment a thousand times before since meeting her but nothing had prepared him for how tight-hot-wet she was. He groaned and let his head roll back in ecstasy as he slowly stretched her insides to accommodate his size. Once he was fully in her he grinned and bounced his hips into her pelvic bone, grinding and making her moan loudly.

He began rolling his hips in circles as he pumped into her fully. Dawn's legs wrapped around his waist and her nails clawed down his back. "God yes, Damon," she let out as he pressed upwards inside her. Damon leaned more fully on her, arching his hips upwards with every thrust now, he began moving faster and faster.

Her eyes flashed at him as she lost all control, her body caught in a tight whirlwind of pleasure as she orgasmed. Dawn let out a loud high pitched scream as her insides violently convulsed, her head thrown back and her mouth agape. Damon waited until she calmed a bit, hanging just on the edge of his own precipice. Once she was still again, he kissed her lips gently, just enough to draw her attention. His fingers then caught in her hair, making her meet his eyes as he pumped slow and hard into her already sated body. Dawn was now left to watch as he went over the edge, pressing his cool seed inside her with a final grunting moan.

Damon carefully rolled off of her, pulling a blanket up around them. They fell asleep naked and entangled on the bed, more at peace than either had ever been before.

**A/N: Hope you all enjoyed this little Christmas gift from me to you. Now I'm going to go a on a bit of a hiatus for a few weeks but I'll be back with some kick ass chapters after the holidays. So in my absence I say Merry Christmas, and Happy New Years to all... P.S. reviews make the best Christmas gifts... :D **


	13. Chapter 13

**A:N/ So I'm throwing things a bit out of sequence here but don't worry I made annotations of the times and places when I do... (Just to toss in a bit more SUSPENSE!) lol enjoy. **

**11:37 P.M. Aurelia Hospital **

Damon burst through the hospital doors carrying Dawn gingerly, fighting to keep hold of her as yet another seizure racked her small form. Her entire body was a spray of blood, from her nose, on down staining her lips, and then drenching the front of her. He too was covered in the drying substance; he could feel the itch beginning on his chest from where her blood had soaked through his shirt. He was utterly terrified, between the nose bleed that was still oncoming, her vomiting blood earlier, and the sporadic seizures, just the feel of her in his arms was enough to let him know that she was hurt badly. Dawn was burning up, enough so that she had gone into a cold sweat, and her heart beat- a tiny thready sound barely audible to even his ears.

Carefully he handed her off to the nurse and rushed after them as they carted her into the ICU. An elderly and rather portly nurse, stopped him at the door and made him wait outside. He paced just out of the way of the entourage of doctors and nurses that were rushing in and out to help her. Then he heard the worst sound he could ever recall hearing; Dawn screamed in utter agony and despair, arching off her hospital bed and then slammed back down in another fit of seizures. He stopped pacing and watched the hospital doors to see what would follow. And then he heard a loud squeal from the heart beat monitors she was hooked to as her heart stopped beating...

**9:22 A.M. Salvatore Mansion**

Dawn woke up and stretched across the large luxury bed she'd been sleeping on. Pulling a sheet up to cover her naked breast she found herself alone in the morning light. She rolled over and stared up at the vaulted ceiling overhead. _What have I done? _she thought wearily. Just then Damon came walking in wearing only his jeans and carrying a large tray of food. _Oh, yeah that_, she grinned at the reminder of her constant temptations.

"Good morning, sunshine," he smiled bringing the food over and sitting next to her. Dawn watched as he downed a cup blood while she ate and then stole her bacon. "What? You don't like bacon?" he asked taking another bite. "What's wrong with you?"

Dawn laughed, "nothing, just this guy stole my bacon."

"Should he go make you some more to make up for it?" he teased.

"Nah, it was cute," she shook her head.

Damon smirked at her, "well I think he should make up for it anyway."

She leaned back against the headboard, finished eating, "and how do you suppose he should do that?"

Pulling the tray off her lap and laying it on a table across the room he came back to her. Damon knelt on the bed, leaning towards her, and taking the sheet from her hands to let it fall and reveal the curves of her breasts. "Oh, I have my ways, Miss Summers," he assured her, capturing a single nipple between his teeth and suckling it.

"Mmm... unh..." Dawn grunted, arching her back towards his moist cool mouth.

Damon chuckled and crawled back off the bed, before taking a firm grip on the ankle that was peeking from under her sheet. Jerking her to the end of the bed he grinned taking in every inch of her sweet ivory flesh.

Dawn let a surprised yelp as he pulled her forward and kissed her hard, tasting deep within her mouth. She felt Damon groan against her mouth, his hardening member pressing against her knees.

Pushing her back on the bed he nibbled his way down the underside of her jaw. Running his tongue over the large veins in her neck, Damon could feel her pulse exploding just beneath his mouth. He nipped lightly at the delicate flesh, just enough to tease her without actually breaking the skin.

Dawn giggled beneath him her hands running over the smooth flesh she found there. His skin was cool but not uncomfortably so, and hard, like etched marble. Then he'd move just a bit and she could feel the muscles just under his skin stretching and flowing. She scraped her nails across one of his perfectly round, pebbled nipples. Damon bucked against her slightly causing her to giggle again and push him back slightly.

Standing up Damon looked down at where Dawn was sitting in puzzlement. She smirked up at him before leaning towards him and running the flat of her tongue across one nipple. Her hands caught and kneaded the sculpted flesh of his sides before she tilted her face up to kiss him. He groaned as her tongue flicked and danced across his own, his fingers catching in her hair.

Sliding to her knees before him, Dawn licked the smooth line down his flesh until she reached his belly button. Once there Dawn pressed her palms flat on his stomach, rubbing her thumbs downward to his belt line. "Dawn," he groaned out, looking down at where she sat by his feet. _No way would she..._

Dawn began unfastening his belt and then looked up at him as her fingers worked the button of his jeans. Damon was staring down at her in such shocked reverence she couldn't help but grin. "I've never tried this before," she admitted as she pushed his pants down his firm thighs. Looking at his hardened shaft she took a deep breath and grasped him firmly in her hands. He let out a rumbling growl as she ran her tongue around the head of him. He tasted salty and tangy but not bad, she mused. Dawn tried pulling more of him into her mouth, and felt his flesh shift under her wet tongue. Pulling back in worry she looked up at him but he was only panting in pleasure.

"You're really haven't gotten much foreplay in have you?" he teased seeing her panicked face. Dawn rolled her eyes at him and began sucking his shaft once more, causing him to catch his breath. Her mouth was so hot and wet around him that combined with the suckling pressure he knew wouldn't last long like this. Grasping her hair he gently pulled her up and kissed her. Damon's eyes rolled back in his head as he tasted his own precum in her sweet mouth.

Dawn groaned as he slid his hands down her back, gently cupping her bottom, before sliding down the backs of her legs. Damon stepped out of his pants kicking them aside as he lifted her, grasping the bend of her knees. Holding her against him he felt her hot center, poised wet and ready over the tip of him. She ran her fingers through his hair, jerking his head back to kiss him fiercely. Smirking against her mouth he pulled her down onto his shaft, filling her in one hard thrust.

Dawn moaned loud and hard as he filled, stretched, and ground against her tender flesh. Lifting her up and down his long shaft, only to pull her down hard again, he brought her quickly to a fevered pitch. She was panting and moaning as he filled her with his hard member. Damon growled as she pulled hard on his hair, forcing his head back painfully, loosing herself in their passion. He spilled his cool seed deep within her as he felt her orgasm starting, milking him fervently.

Turning so that she would land on top of him, he flopped them back on the bed. Resting easily on his firm chest Dawn sat quietly, trying to catch her breath. Damon languished in the feel of her heart beating quickly from their shared exertion, lined up with his own unbeating heart perfectly. He idly traced patterns with gently finger tips on the smooth skin of her back.

"So," Dawn huffed out, still slightly out of breath. "You ready to open the tomb tonight?"

"Did you get that last ingredient you needed?" he frowned slightly.

She tilted her head up at him, resting her chin on his chest, "no, but I'll get that later tonight. It's a wait 'til the very last second kind of thing anyway." He nodded his head with false understanding, magic really wasn't his thing.

Dawn scrambled off Damon and across the bed, hearing her phone ring. She quickly answered seeing her sister's number. "Hey Buffy... yah I just got up," Dawn laid on her side looking at Damon for a long moment. "Ric spent the night? How was it?..." she laughed at her older sister's discomfort at the question. "Oh... could you cover for me taking the girls on patrol tonight, I was going to go to a movie with a friend... Thanks Buffy, love you."

**10:03 P.M. San Callisto Cemetery **

After spending the entire day checking and rechecking the spell, all of her ingredients, and her translations Dawn was finally satisfied that she was really ready to open the tomb. She and Damon pulled up in the cemetery parking lot and began unloading the supplies they needed. Once standing in front of the tomb Dawn turned towards him and pulled out a small silver knife, "wait... I need the last ingredient." He stared at her in utter confusion, "the em... I need your blood.. To... um... drink your blood." She blushed nervously, still feeling strange about the idea herself and unsure of how Damon would take it.

He tilted her chin up and carefully kissed her lips before unbuttoning his shirt for her. "And here I thought you'd never ask." Dawn cut a single small line down his chest, watching him carefully, her blue eyes sparkling in the moonlight. He hissed in appreciation as her warm mouth wrapped around the wound and she began to lap up the blood flowing there.

From almost the second his blood hit her tongue Dawn could feel his energy soaring through her. Images, sounds, and feelings rocketed through her too fast for her to grasp any of them. She could feel him, his power, his life pouring into her small form until she was filled with it. Dawn pulled back, licking her lips to make sure she wasn't a mess from the blood. "Alright, lets get started then," she sighed. "I can't tear down the barrier permanently, only open a door, so you'll have to find her and get her out of there pretty quickly," Dawn warned him.

Damon nodded and watched as Dawn put on the amulet Brigida had made for them, and began the spell that would return Katherine to him. For one bright moment he pictured what it could be like, having Dawn with him like this and taking care of Katherine, nursing her back to health too. He grinned in anticipation as he watched his little watcher work.

The air next to where the barrier stood shimmered visually and he could feel it becoming less like a wall and more like thick jello next to him. Suddenly Dawn burst with a bright green light, almost blinding in intensity and the wall fell through allowing him entrance.

Damon bolted into the tomb, rushing as Dawn had said. Inside there was no light and the air was stale from being sealed for so very long. He quickly searched from one room to the next looking for his beloved Katherine. The more he looked, the more evident the truth was, she wasn't there. He sniffed the air searching the darkness for any trace of her but again found nothing. Damon slammed his fist into a stone wall cursing at his failure. _Where was she?_

Dawn could feel the walls of the spell sealing the tomb pressing in on her, making her feel like there was too much in her and it was getting squashed down further. Dawn could feel the blood that began to seep out of her nose in a steady stream as the pressure exploded inside her head causing a massive migraine. She knew she wouldn't be able to hold it open for very much longer and quickly rushed inside, choking on the stale air. The ivory skinned brunette found her lover cussing and punching a wall near the back of the tomb. "Damon we have to go soon, I can't hold this for much longer," she begged.

"She's not here!" he cried out turning to face her. Again he hit the stone wall, causing several heavy rocks to break off and go flying across the empty tomb.

"Please," she begged, tears beginning to stream down her eyes, her fear that Damon would become trapped in here starting to set in.

Damon could hear the tears in her voice and turned to see her. The girl who only moments before had looked so alive only moments ago now looked tired, gaunt, and drawn. He could see the blood streaming from her nose in the darkness as she begged him to go. Finally Damon nodded and led them out of the tomb.

Once beyond where the barrier sat Dawn finally let the spell go and nearly collapsed with relief. Every inch of her body felt as though it was bruised and sore. She stumbled back towards the car, Damon sulking next to her silently. He went to side of the vehicle, still fuming over Katherine's absence. Dawn felt the world start to spin and the taste of bile at the back of her throat as she reached the passenger's door. Then the world was vibrating so fast, too fast, and suddenly she couldn't hold on any more and collapsed.

Damon looked up from where he was about to get into his car when he heard Dawn hit the ground. Rushing around the front of the vehicle he found her seizing on the ground, choking of the blood she was vomiting up. Quickly he forced her body over to her stomach, away from the car and got her to naturally spit the fluid up instead of choking on it. He could smell her blood mixed with his own in the night air and began to panic. He couldn't loose them both, not in the same night. Once she had finished thrashing and vomiting as badly he lifted her small form and carefully belted her in the car.

"Dawn, sweetheart," he pleaded trying to wake her up as he raced across the city traffic to Aurelia Hospital. His eyes kept flitting from her blood drenched body to the road, the streetlights showing her in stark contrast as he drove. "Please be okay," he begged.

**12:01 P.M. Summer's Residence**

Buffy was just coming in from taking Dawn's group of slayers on patrol, expecting to find her sister waiting for her. She was so happy, last night she and her new boyfriend Alaric had finally made love. For once in her life she was in truly happy, normal relationship. "Dawn?" she called out to the dark apartment. _Maybe she's in bed already_, she shrugged and started towards her own bedroom.

The blond slayer stopped hearing the apartment phone ring and wondered who it could possibly be. No one ever called the apartment because everyone who wanted to reach either sister had their cell phone numbers. She sighed and picked up, "hello?"

"Miss Buffy Summers?" a strange Italian sounding woman queried.

"Yes," she answered. This better not be a telemarketer.

After a pause the woman continued, "Miss Summers I'm sorry to inform you that your... younger sister, Dawn, was brought in to Aurelia Hospital thirty minutes ago, suffering from intense trauma. She was taken to our intensive care unit, we're trying our best to help her."

_Dawn_, Buffy's eyes flicked to her younger sister's closed bedroom door as she dropped the phone and rushed over. She wasn't there. Buffy's throat felt like there was a brick shoved in it sideways as she ran out into the night again. _Aurelia Hospital, oh God please be okay_, she pleaded as she raced through the dark on foot.


	14. Chapter 14

_Dawn found herself lounging in the sunshine, eating grapes and goat cheese. She wasn't sure how she knew it was goat cheese; she'd never even seen it before in person, but had to admit it was very good. She looked around and found herself sitting on a cushioned Roman couch talking to an ancient Roman senator, father. Dawn frowned, this wasn't right, this wasn't her time, her place. Her time was... now and she was in... pain, so much pain. Except she wasn't; this wasn't right. _

_Dawn turned and saw the most beautiful woman she'd ever laid eyes upon walking towards her. The woman smiled, her olive skin glistening in the sunlight. Eyes so brown they glowed with flecks of golden light in them and shining dark hair. Katherine. She was so... enchanting. How could Damon ever love me when he has that? And yet she felt so happy seeing her, like she knew they belonged together. _

_"Damon," Katherine, greeted happily. Quickly looking around, Dawn couldn't find her lover. Turning back to face Katherine again, she found the scene before her had changed into an all to nightmarish one. She was in dark temple room, lit only by torches burning around the walls, though a few were strewn on the floor. In front of her were at least a dozen corpses, belonging to the monks who must have resided there before this massacre. _

_Dawn started gasping taking in the blood drenched ground and walls flickering in the firelight. At her feet was a large round broach holding the emblem of the monk hood spattered in blood. She recognized the seal instantly, these were the monks of Brashit. _

_Looking up she saw two more monks frightened and quivering across the room from her, backing away. Dawn could smell the fear coming off of them, even beyond the blood and death that permeated the air. "I will kill all of you if you don't give me what I want!" she heard Damon scream. With a horrified lurch of her stomach she realized the words were coming out of her own mouth. _

_The world faded to black again until she found herself laying over herself. Only right now Dawn was Damon, and the real Dawn was laying underneath him, naked and flushed. Last night, some part of her whispered in the back of her mind. She smiled looking down at the luscious feminine body beneath her, hair splayed out of the pillows in soft waves. Dawn blinked down at herself, and suddenly she was covered in blood, throat torn into rags. She screamed as the world turned lopsided yet again. _

Buffy was looking in on Dawn's hospital room; from there she could see the respirator machine currently keeping the younger girl alive. The brunette girl was pale and her eyelids were fluttering rapidly in her dream state. Her heart beat monitor was droning out a steady rhythm of beeps now, when the blond had arrived it had been much more sporadic.

Dawn's doctor walked up to the petite woman, filling her in on everything that had happened since her sister had been admitted. "Her heart stopped for nearly three minutes before we managed to resuscitate her; she's very lucky to be alive."

Buffy sighed and fought the tears bubbling very close to the surface, "do you have any idea what's wrong with her?"

He shook his head in utter confusion, "she seems to be suffering from some form of anaphylactic shock. She's having an allergic reaction to foreign antibodies in her blood. We took a sample of her blood, whatever it is, its strong and its quickly taking over her system. Her body's still fighting it but I'm not sure how much longer she'll be able to hold out the fight."

"What type of antibodies could do this?" her head shot up.

"None that we've ever found before..." he waved a hand in confusion. "There's simply nothing known to man that could or would do this type of thing."

After the doctor left her Buffy pulled out her phone and admittedly called the watcher's council. Once she was done explaining Dawn's injuries and requesting their own medical team to aide her she looked over to where Damon was sitting still. He was covered nearly head to toe in her sister's dry, hair mussed, and fashionable clothes ruined. Buffy made her way to the older man and dropped into the chair in front of him. "What the hell happened tonight? Dawn was supposed t be going to a movie with a friend!"

His blue eyes met her own hazel ones after glancing towards Dawn's hospital room. He was helpless to help the girl, and entirely unsure of what to do or say to her sister. Damon couldn't remember the last time he had ever felt so utterly useless. All his anxieties were compounding and filtering into his oldest friend, anger. "She got hurt," he filled in blandly.

"At the movies?" Buffy asked in utter disbelief. He stared at her in an ill fated attempt at staring the young slayer down. Again she prodded him with questions, unfazed by the vampires threatening glare. "Why are you covered with Dawn's blood?"

"I was the one who carried her in," he pointed out as though that was utterly obvious.

"What happened to the friend she went to the movie with?"

Damon answered shortly, "there was no friend."

Buffy stood and began pacing in front of him, "except you, right?" Stopping she looked down at him in contempt, "only I'm pretty sure you're a whole heck of a lot more than just her friend... or employer? So who the hell are you to my _underage_ sister?"

"She may be only seventeen, but she's more mature than you'll ever be! And she is my friend, maybe my only friend!" Getting up to face down the much younger woman he was nearly growling at her, "and when she needs someone to talk to about _anything_ I think we both know who she'll be turning to."

The blonde's voice dropped in volume to a quiet whisper, "I think you better go." He nodded and grabbed his blood stained coat, trying to keep his rage under control so he wouldn't do something he might regret. As he was walking away Buffy spoke up one last time, "did you hurt my sister?"

Turning back to her, she could finally she the pain and worry reflected in his eyes. "Never."

Three days later Dawn finally began to stir in her hospital bed, finding a very tired and worried sister watching over her from a nearby chair. Buffy ran a hand over her face in an attempt to clear her own cobwebs, "what happened Dawn?" Dawn shook her head feeling far to hoarse and foggy headed yet to speak. "Well let me tell you... You died. Your heart stopped for over three minutes. I was called in the middle of the night to find the sister I had thought was happy and safe at the movies with a friend was in the ICU... Brought in by a much older man she shouldn't even be friends with... Much less whatever the hell else is going on between you two!" By now she was practically screaming at the injured girl, "I mean for Christ's sake Dawn you have a boyfriend... a nice, normal boyfriend... The kind of guy you should _want_ to be with!" Taking a deep breath she made a great effort to calm down. "The doctors said you were suffering from some sort of shock from foreign antibodies in your blood... I called the council, they found vampire blood, Dawn. They said you had to have ingested large amounts of it. What the hell were you thinking drinking vamp blood Dawnie?"

Dawn swallowed thickly trying to figure out what she could say, "I can't... I don't remember."

Buffy could tell her sister was lying, Dawn had never been very good at it. At least not face to face with somebody. "Don't you dare lie me to me Dawn Summers! Not now, not about this!" The younger girl was silent, but wouldn't meet her sister's worried and accusatory gaze. Buffy nodded giving up after a long pause, "the council is talking about firing you over this, and right now I'd agree with them."

The brunette looked utterly panicked as she stammered out, "w-what?"

material."

"W-when?" Dawn fought back tears as the worry over loosing her job sank in.

Buffy sighed, "soon, next week maybe."

Damon found himself sitting at a local bar drinking and stewing alone; a practice he usually undertook at home but he was already out of alcohol and this was easier than sending Michael out repeatedly for drink. Yesterday he had stopped in at the offices of Wolfram&Hart to ask Ilona what she knew about Katherine's absence from the tomb. Turns out she knew all along that Katherine wasn't there and because from centuries hadn't been able to tell him.

Damon took another shot of tequila and slammed his empty glass down on the table only to refill it again. Dawn had been hurt, nearly died, did die, all for nothing. He was in a bad mood, a very bad mood.

Ric walked into yet another bar looking for more answers about his lost wife, Isobel. He walked over to the exotic looking bartender and began asking his usual questions. "Excuse me," he asked. "I'm looking for someone who might be able to help me find my wife, she went missing a few years ago."

"I can try, honey," she whispered with a sultry lilt to her sweet voice.

Ric nodded, "well she was seen with the ... Immortal, I believe he's called, I was hoping you might be able to help me find him."

The bartender straightened and nodded, "you're in luck."

"Why is that?" he asked taking a drink of his scotch on the rocks.

She pointed towards the back of the bar, where booths lined the wall and a lone man sat. "He's in tonight. Be careful though, he's in a bad mood. Heard one of his lady friends got hurt real bad by something," she said walking away.

Ric looked more closely at where she was pointing and immediately felt his grip tighten around his glass until it was nearly shattering from the pressure he exerted. In the booth the woman had pointed out sat none other that Damon Salvatore, Dawn's friend. He grimaced and turned back towards the bar. _So that's how Dawn got hurt. _

**A:N/ Sorry this chapter's so small but not to fret, the next one's going to be a bit lengthy. Hope you're enjoying all the foreshadowing drama. Please review. **

**Happy New Years! **


	15. Chapter 15

Dawn was coming home today, Marcus and Buffy had left to pick her up almost an hour ago. Marcus kept trying to gently glide his American girlfriend from one place to another; but behind his back Buffy kept shooting her sister glares that said, _see he's great_. Ric opened the door for the trio, he had stayed in their apartment to make sure Dawn's welcome home party went well. Andrew, a friend of the sister's was there to help her with her recovery too.

Dawn forced herself to smile as she was ambushed by so many people who cared about her. With a pang she noted Damon's absence but also figured that might be best given her sister's mood. Andrew pulled her aside to explain himself without alerting either Ric or Marcus to something they should not know. "I'm just here to take over your watcher duties until after the trial... Besides my apartment was kind of burnt down and I needed a place to stay," he admitted sheepishly.

Pulling him into a careful hug, Dawn bit her lip to keep from wincing. "Glad to have you here Andrew," she assured him.

As Dawn finally tucked herself into bed that night, sore and sift from the long day she heard her sister knocking on her door. Without waiting for Dawn to answer Buffy opened the door and came in, looking over her sister in the darkened room. "Why'd you do it Dawn?" The younger Summers offered no answer but that didn't stop the blond from plowing on. "I've done a lot of really bad stuff in my life but..." she shook her head. "You had sex with Damon you?"

Finally the brunette answered, her voice small and empty. "Is that what this is about? You treating me this way?"

Swallowing and leaning against the door frame the slayer sighed. "You had everything you've ever wanted Dawn and you threw it all away. I'm just trying to understand why."

Dawn sat up in bed finally and turned to face her sister fuming with anger. "No, I had everything _you_ ever wanted! The only thing I've ever wanted was to be like you and help people. To be a watcher. Now I'm loosing that too. Happy now?"

"Dawn," the blond sighed tiredly.

"Don't! Don't pretend like some part of you isn't thrilled over this, Buffy... Cause now you'll really get what you've always wanted... A _normal_ sister, with a normal boyfriend, and normal _job_, and a normal _life_!"

Stepping forward Buffy addressed the younger girl, "is it so wrong to want those things for you?"

"What about what I want Buffy? Since when have you bothered to ask?" Dawn pointed out and received no answer on. Finally giving up after a long pause from the blond Dawn sighed and laid down again. "Get out," she whispered.

For a long time there was no noise of movement and then Dawn felt the bed shift and move next to her. Growling she said, "get out Buffy!"

Damon looked down at the ivory skinned brunette, sitting on the edge of her bed. "I'm not Buffy," he whispered, stroking a careful hand down her side. Dawn bolted into a sitting position and wrapped her arms around him, languishing the feel of his arms around her once more. "I heard you were out of the hospital. God Dawn, I'm so sorry," his breath tickled across her skin in the night air.

Squeezing her tighter Dawn winced, all the internal bruising flaring up. "Still sore," she admitted.

Damon shook his dark head at her pulling back slightly, "this is me Dawn, you don't have to hide."

She shook her head, making her hair shake around her shoulders gently. "I'm loosing everything... again." Finally Dawn broke, letting the tears she'd been holding in since she woke up in the hospital pour forth. Damon wrapped his arms around her small form allowing her to sob quietly.

"Wake up, Dawn," Andrew pleaded stirring the young girl.

"Huh?" she gasped coming to. It was just a dream she realized rolling over and finding no trace of Damon in her bed.

He smiled apologetically as she stretched getting up, still exhausted and hurting. "It's time to get ready to go, the meeting's at nine." Heading into the kitchen she gratefully took a cup of coffee from their once guestage. "I'm sure it'll be okay. I mean even when the Jedi council had their doubts about young Anakin Skywalker they still pulled through and let him become Obi-Wan's paudwan."

Taking a sip of her coffee she tossed a cautious look at where Buffy was pacing in front of the living room windows. "Except not even Obi-Wan believes in me anymore," she whispered to him. "Besides didn't Anakin grow up to kill them all anyway?"

Andrew sheepishly answered, "yes, but the point is I was trying to be comforting."

Dawn shot him a kind smile, "thanks Andrew."

At the council meeting one of the private training rooms had been converted for the trial. All that truly meant was that all the training equipment had been pushed to the outskirts of the room and a table with three chairs had been set up for the presiding watchers. Dawn and Buffy were the only ones allowed to attend, and Andrew was left in charge of the other slayers during the proceedings.

Daniel Wyndem-Pryce, Wesley's father, was in charge of the trial Dawn noted. He was an elderly, extremely uptight, stickler for the absolute black and white rules type, she knew. To his left sat another elderly watcher; a short slender gray haired woman, Leslie Feller. Gibson Rossem, was to the right, younger than the two others but one of the best trainer's the council had. Giles was notably absent, thankfully; Dawn wasn't sure she could face his disappointment in her right now.

"Miss Summers," the elder Wyndem-Pryce began. "We are all very disappointed with you. You shucked your sworn duty to protect and assists slayers to become involved, dare I say, _personally_ with one of the very things you are supposed to be teaching them to eradicate. Granted, we were not in the least surprised given your sister's own sorted life."

Dawn interrupted immediately, the loyalty she felt for her sister taking precedence, "I would implore you Sir, leave my sister's own _private_ life out of these proceedings. My life and choices are mine alone."

Daniel raised a brow at her and nodded slowly, "I must applaud you, this is the first watcher-esk thing you've yet to utter. It is always good to protect your slayers... However, Buffy is not your slayer. Her watcher is yet and will remain as Rupert Giles."

The brunette watcher on trial nodded her acceptance, "yes, Sir."

The three watchers paused to whisper back and forth amongst themselves. Leslie was the first to speak up, "perhaps, Miss Summers, we could offer you some leniency if only you would provide us with the name or whereabouts of the vampire that attacked you."

"I'm sorry Mam but I cannot," Dawn affirmed.

Leslie quirked an elegant brow at this, "you do not know?"

Swallowing thickly the brunette replied quietly, "I was not attacked."

Leslie took utterly taken aback by the revelation, Daniel huffed as though he had seen it coming, and Gibson nearly sputtered on the glass of water he had been drinking. Rossem, confusedly asked, "you were not attacked?

"No Sir, I both knowingly and willingly acted."

"You willingly consumed the blood of one of the undead? And you are unwilling to provide us the name or whereabouts of this... beasts?" Leslie questioned with disdain.

Dawn's easy reply was, "my apologies Mam, but I cannot and will not."

The watchers began discussing again in hushed whispers for a few moments before Gibson looked up again. "Miss Summers... erm... Buffy?"

The slayers stepped forward, "yes?"

"You have been present throughout your sister's, albeit, brief career as a watcher. Do you feel she is a competent enough watcher to continue with her duties after this... episode."

Buffy looks at Dawn for a long moment, "my own personal feelings for my sister aside... All of the slayers she had taught have all become more than sufficient under her tutelage. And more than that, Dawn wants to be a watcher, to help people, help us, more than anyone else I know... including Giles."

Dawn smiled her thanks towards her sister but their brief moment was interrupted by Daniel once more. "Be that as it may, we have another issue to address." He began to stare down the young brunette, "all of the slayers here, including your own sister have noticed a certain discrepancy in the quantity of demons they have faced."

"Sir?" Dawn questioned.

"Rome is noted to be a possible hell mouth, has a large enough population to support and hide _many _demons, and is the home of one of Wolfram&Hart central European offices... Yet there is an extreme lack of demonic activity to report.. Now Miss Summers, I wonder could this perhaps be related to your relationship with one.. Immortal?"

Buffy shot Dawn a shocked and confused look, but the younger Summers paid her no mind. "The Immortal?"

"Do you deny knowing him?... Or attending the Wolfram&Hart New Years Eve party with him?" Daniel pried. Buffy immediately put the pieces together and walked out on the meeting. Dawn looked back watching her go, knowing she knew and dreading the results.

Leslie drew her out of her thoughts, "Miss Summers?"

Turning back to the matter at hand Dawn swallowed her anxiety and forged ahead. "Yes, I know him."

"And did you make a deal with creature?" the older woman questioned.

"Yes Mam, I did. To protect my girls, the slayers, I cut a deal with him."

Leslie pushed ahead, "and what did he require in return?"

Dawn took a deep breath, "I was to open the tomb releasing another vampire, his sire."

Gibson interjected then, "and were you successful?"

"In opening the tomb yes, but his sire was not there... She must have been moved previously without us realizing it."

"And what do you suppose the consequences for your failure might be?" Gibson asked.

Dawn shook her head confused, "I'm... I'm not sure."

Damon was pouring himself a drink out of a freshly filled snifter in the parlor when Buffy came barging in on her war path. "Dawn," he whispered in worry. "Is she...?" he couldn't bare to say dead.

Buffy walked slowly in taking a good look at the fancy mansion Dawn had been apparently spending all her time in. "She's facing the council, about loosing her job... because of you... What the hell did you do to her?" she asked coming to a stop a few feet from him.

Damon let his icy gaze trace the small slayer's form, "I was just trying to save the woman I loved; turns out she didn't need saving though she apparently didn't need to be saved... Or want to be saved, which ever."

"Was it worth it?" the blond asked.

"No," he answered taking a drink and setting his glass down again to refill. "No it wasn't."

Buffy nodded, "Dawn's hurting you know, not just physically... and its your fault."

"Now you're the one who ought to leave," he warned, jaw twitching dangerously.

"Oh yah and why is that?" she quipped playfully almost.

He sighed, "because if you don't I'm liable to do something that would only hurt, Dawn more, and I'm rather certain I'd regret that."

The petite blond punched him, "that's right, you would."

Damon only shook off the passing blow and made an effort to warn her, "I'm not some simple little vampire for you to beat, slayer. They do call me the 'Immortal' for a reason, you know."

"No such thing as immortal," she huffed. "I've killed enough of your kind to know better." Buffy threw another punch, landing it against his jaw. She tried to go in for a quick kill, pulling out her stake but Damon only caught her wrist, and taking her stake away threw it in the fire place to burn.

"Knock it off," he chided as though she were a small smile.

Damon blocked three more blows she tried throwing his way, and she was quickly becoming frustrated. "Why won't you fight me?" she asked in exasperation.

"I'm thinking about someone more important that either of us," he answered honestly.

The short blond landed a blow across his mouth, splitting his lower lip. "Oh, yah, and who's that?"

Wiping the blood off his mouth and suckled his fingers clean before answering. "Dawn." Seeing Buffy's expression become crest fallen at that realization he grew tired of the confrontation. "Now if you're done with your tantrum, get out."

Dawn had finally gotten home after nearly six hours undergoing the trial only to be fired anyways. She had left the watchers and Andrew to break the news to the girls and just wanted to be alone at this point. There was only one person she could think of calling or wanting the company of right now, and she knew she should check on him soon.

Going into her room and collapsing on the other side of door, she dialed his all too familiar number. After several rings she heard him pick up, "Damon? Damon," she started to cry. "Are you okay? Please, Damon I need you..." she cried and heard him sigh on the other end before hanging up on her.

Damon looked at where Buffy was sitting sipping a glass of bourbon on his couch as he hung up. "It's for the best right?" he asked with a pained expression in his eyes taking a seat next to her.

"So I leave you alone, you leave her alone... That's what's going to happen now?" Buffy asked quietly, staring at her drink.

He took a seat next to her, "I just want her to be happy."

"Me too," the slayer nodded.

"Talk to her, really talk to her. Oh and uh, she doesn't like Marcus, not really, she's just dating him for you, but she feels bad for it so just kind let her work it out on her own. No guilt trips okay?" he noted as a tip. Damon got up remembering the first talk he'd had with Dawn about she really wanted to do with her life and got up to retrieve a letter he'd been meaning to give her for a week now. "Oh and uh give her this.. but don't tell her where it came from, eh."

Damon handed off the letter to Buffy who eyed it curiously, the return address was from the Dean of Archaeology at Cambridge University. "What is this?" she asked.

"An acceptance letter, I used to date the Dean and she's doing a dig in northern Turkey this summer. I got Dawn in to join them," he pointed out taking another drink.

Buffy watched him closely for a moment, "you know if you weren't a vamp and were my sister's age I think I might have actually approved of you."

He chuckled, "not likely I was a whoring wretch when I was Dawn's age."

The slayer laughed, "I'm not surprised, kinda seemed like you might be one now too."

"Yah," Damon nodded, swallowing the last of his scotch. "Yah."


	16. Chapter 16

After two weeks Dawn found herself feeling much better, physically that was. Every time she dared close her eyes she was still falling back into the nightmarish history that was Damon Salvatore's past. He still wouldn't talk to her over the phone, or even when she arrived at his door. Twice Michael had turned her away saying 'Mr. Salvatore' was refusing visitors. _Bull shit_, she thought bitterly, splashing her face with cool water from the bathroom sink.

But now she had given up on him, clearly she'd served her purpose. Dawn had been spending more and more time with Marcus and their other friends. Granted they were more Marcus's friends than her own but that didn't really matter.

Dawn was even talking to her father again now, after five years of nary a word to his daughters he was suddenly very worried and interested. He had called two days ago and Buffy had been so happy to hear from him that she automatically asked him to come visit them. He would be coming to stay for two weeks at the end of the month, and had even asked Dawn if she'd consider staying the summer with him.

Sighing heavily she plastered the same fake 'I'm a happy-normal-teen smile' on and headed out of the bathroom to start her day. Bouncing into the kitchen with all the energy she could muster, smiled, and called out a friendly goodbye to Andrew as he headed out the door to his new job taking over her watcher duties. Buffy and Ric were making breakfast together in the kitchen when she came in and started rifling through the fridge for a bottled water.

"You got plans today?" the blond slayer asked her younger sister almost cautiously. Buffy over looked her sister's light blue bikini top, sandals, and khaki shorts hoping Dawn wasn't planning to go into a church like that. Things had been stressed between the sister for weeks now and Dawn was still barely acknowledging her.

Nodding Dawn turned taking a drink, "yah, Marcus and I are heading down the Hotel Calispso beach with some friends for the day."

"Have fun and remember to wear sun block," Buffy called as the brunette grabbed her bag and headed out the door.

"Uh-huh, have fun you two," Dawn called back to them.

Ric looked up from where he was chopping bell peppers for the omelet they were making together. "At least she seems to be recovering okay," he commented unsure of whether or not to try to explain his own concern for the teen.

"No, she's not," Buffy shook her head worried.

He frowned, "what do you mean?"

"Dawn's acting normal, like normal-teen-normal, not Dawn-normal," she sighed.

"So there's trouble?"

The slayer nodded, "maybe... maybe not. I don't know, maybe I'm just worrying over nothing."

Ric placed his hand over hers comfortingly, "it's only natural to worry, given what you've both been through. But I think as long as she stays away from that Damon fellow she should be fine."

"Yeah," she agreed, comforted.

At the beach Dawn lay sunning herself with three other girls in her class while Marcus and two of his friends from football went to fetch them all drinks. All three of the girls were overly insipid beauty queens so Dawn hadn't even bothered in learning their names; to her they were Shallow Girl One, Two, and Three.

Two as Dawn called her stretched and looked at Dawn over her expensive sunglasses, "you know, Dawn, I don't know how you bare to be so pale... its ghastly." Sitting up she pointed to the scars left from Glories cronies across the brunette's abdomen, "and those scars... uh... just horrible."

Girl One looked over and nodded before facing the full rays of the sun again. "Plastic surgery and a tanning booth could clear that right up for you."

Finally Number Three spoke up too, "plus, you could use a boob job, Dawnie."

"Then you'd be really hot," Two filled in perkily, laying back down.

Getting annoyed with all three of them she tried not to let her 'Spike' smirk show too much. "I think I'll just spend my money on tattoos."

"Tattoos?" Two asked in utter shock and appall.

"Yah," Dawn nodded. Almost idly thinking it over she pondered, "I wonder if there's a place around here that doesn't ask about age..."

Shallow Girl Three sneered in disgust, "I can't believe you'd do that to yourself Dawn."

Just then Marcus came back with his friends and started dispensing their various drinks. "Do what?" he asked curiously as he took a seat next to Dawn.

One answered for her, "get a tattoo."

"Tattoo_s_," the ivory skinned beauty corrected emphasizing the 's.'

Marcus laughed and shook his head, "oh no, she's not getting a tattoo." His American girlfriend shot him a defiant look that had him blushing and stuttering, "y-you cannot be serious bambina. It will ruin you forever..."

Dawn nodded, "they used to say that about sex in the middle ages too but I certainly you complaining about _that_ last night."

Turning even redder he rushed on, "it will mar your perfection even more though!"

"More than what?" she asked sitting up and glaring openly at him.

Pointing at her scars just as the other girl had he sputtered, "those, there."

Standing up Dawn happily poured what was left of her water bottle on his head before angrily storming off. It wasn't as if the scars were her fault, and if they thought seeing the small tracery of lines etching her face was bad they were sure as hell lucky they didn't have the memories of how they'd been inflicted.

Shallow Girl Two rolled her eyes, "you really should dump her Marcus. Pretty American or not, she is loco." Marcus could only frown and watch his girlfriend's figure retreat into the distance.

Damon found himself frowning too, he looked across his king sized bed at the mass of limbs belong to six various women that were sprawled across it. The stench sex and stale alcohol filled the small space nearly choking him. Damon was beginning how he'd ever managed to live this way for any length of time. Groaning he sat up and started to pull his pants on, looking utterly disheartened.

Cassandra... or Cathy... or whatever her name was sat up and leaned against the head board to address him. "What's wrong? Did we not please you?"

Zipping up he shook his head in frustration, "no... you didn't.?

Annalisa propped her head up on her hands and drew idle circles along the stomach of one of the other girls, Jemma. "Was it us?"

"No, no," he tried to reassure.

Jemma looked up, "has this ever happened before?"

Placing his hands on his hips to stare at his various lovers, "what are you implying?"

She blinked at him and then answered calmly, "just that if it is not us... perhaps its something else?"

Leonora moved to lay her head in Cassandra's lap and asked, "when was the last time you were truly satisfied?"

Damon groaned and wiped a hand harshly over his face, remembering every taste... every smell... every feel of Daw... "three weeks ago.. with... Never mind.'

"Maybe you love her," Annalisa suggested.

Seeing the truth etched so clearly on his face the black haired beauty, Roseanna, nodded. "Definitely."

"Doesn't matter," he muttered pulling his shirt on and fumbling to button it.

Leonora looked at him with utter confusion, "why not?"

Damon angrily waved his hands through the air as if it was obvious, "I'm no good for her!"

"Since when does that matter?" Jemma pointed out.

Finally Simona answered the question that had been plaguing him for the last several weeks. "Since he wants to be."

Dawn found herself walking home alone after her small spat with Marcus at the beach that afternoon, but if she were honest she was enjoying the cool night air caressing her warm skin. The tall brunette felt vampiric energy prickling her skin slightly and looked around carefully. She had been extremely sensitive to preternatural energies ever since her mishap with Damon at the tomb.

Her icy blue stare sought out the trouble and immediately locked on the familiar back of her history teacher and sister's boyfriend, Ric. He was coming out the gym carrying his bag and headed towards his apartment on foot. The vampire she had sensed stepped out from an alley way and began following Ric.

Dawn swallowed thickly, and quickly moved to follow both men. Maybe if she could catch up with them she could stake the vampire before Ric noticed that anything was amiss. If he was hurt or worse, and there was any chance she could save him Buffy would never, ever forgive her.

The brunette was rushing to catch up when suddenly the vampire was about to step up and grab Ric only to turn to dust. Dawn watched as he pulled back the stake he was holding and dropped it back into his bag. Darting behind a trash can she dodged Ric seeing her as he turned to check the rest of the street and brushed the vamp dust off his shoulder.

Once the mysterious man who had become so much a part of her sisters' life continued on down the street Dawn got up in a fit of confusion. _Who the hell was he really? _she wondered. Dawn wasn't sure the only thing she really did know was that she had to tell Buffy asap.

Arriving home she nearly sighed with relief as Dawn found only Andrew at home. She was still puzzled and worried over what to say or do about this. "Come sit with me little Summers," Andrew motioned to the couch sensing her worry. Dawn gave him a friendly smile and sat next to him relaxing a bit under his kindness. "Now tell Andrew what's wrong?"

The brunette thought it over for a moment before carefully phrasing her question. "Andrew, if you knew something was up... even if it could be potentially helpful and not harmful would you tell Buffy about it and risk her relationship with Ric?"

He frowned, "oh god, he cheated on her didn't he!"

"No! No," she rushed out defending the smart, kind, caring man she knew her sister was falling in love with.

"Oh, good," the goofy older man sighed. "What is it then?"

She swallowed carefully, not sure if she could trust Andrew not to go off running his mouth. "I don't know... just..."

"Dawnie," he interrupted her cautiously. "Buffy's happy, and she utterly deserves that happiness. Anything that might take away from that happiness would just be... selfish. Now get on with you, you're boyfriend's waiting for you," Andrew pushed Dawn off towards her bedroom.

Dawn stumbled off towards her room even more confused than ever. Opening her bedroom in a daze she found Marcus sitting on her bed waiting for her. He looked at her, the apology evident in his eyes. "I'm so sorry bambina," he apologized holding his hands out towards her palms up in supplication.

All her anger towards him from earlier was now muted to a dull edge as she looked at him. Shutting her door she came to stand just in front of him but crossed her arms over her chest and refused to touch him. "I didn't ask for these scars you know? I was cut! Do you get that?"

He leaned his head down and then looked back up at her, "I'm so sorry Dawn. Please, please tell me what happened..."

Finally relenting to him the brunette sighed, this had definitely been one of the longest days of her life. Sitting next to him she closed her eyes trying to shut out the painful memories so she could talk about the experience. "When I was fourteen some very bad people wanted to hurt me. They kidnapped me, tied me up, and then this man... cut me."

Marcus wrapped his arms around her and held her close, "I didn't know."

Dawn shook her head numbly, "its okay... I'm okay now."

He ran his fingers through her hair tenderly before kissing her sweetly, "tell me about where you grew up, please."

"It was... like a nightmare... A terrible nightmare you couldn't wake up from no matter how much you wanted to. And even as terrible as it was... it was my home," she sobbed allowing Marcus to really hold her for the first time. Her lips met his in an honest kiss and for the first time she wasn't wishing it was Damon she was kissing.

An hour later Dawn was resting against the head board wondering about how she could find out more about Ric without upsetting Buffy. Damon had people who probably work up a file on him just like they had one her but no... she couldn't ask Damon for anything anymore.

Marcus leaned his head on his hand, and looked up at her, wearing only his boxers now. Dawn herself was stripped down to her underwear after their hot make out session. "What were you thinking of bambina?" he questioned, caressing the inside of her thigh and smiling slightly at her.

Dawn shook her head, "I was just thinking about Ric." Marcus sat up and quirked a brow at her in confusion. Chuckling slightly at his reaction she continued on, "no, I mean... Does he ever strike you as.. off?"

"No, not really," he frowned. "Is something wrong?"

The brunette shook her head, "I don't know, I guess I'm just trying to look out for Buffy."

He nodded, "that's smart, you two take care of each other. I remember she was so worried when you were sick, she couldn't seem to stop crying."

"Oh," Dawn swallowed thickly, not realizing just how hurt Buffy must've been.

Marcus's phone started ringing in his jeans pocket and he had to get up to answer it. "Its my dad," he explained apologetically looking at the number. "I have to go bambina, but I'll see you in school on Monday?"

Dawn nodded and allowed him to give a sweet kiss goodnight. "Night," she called as he let himself out and got up to get ready for bed herself. She had just shut off her light and turned over to get a good nights sleep when he cell phone lit up on her night stand. Picking up without looking at the number she blearily answered, "hello?"

Damon sighed with relief when she picked up, just listening to her sweet voice slur the word 'hello' was enough to make his member stiffen. "Dawn, I need you..." he whispered.

Hearing Damon's voice over the phone line sent a shudder of pain down Dawn's spine. For two weeks she had been plagued with remembering every moment of his life in vivid detail, wishing only to hear his voice once more directed towards her. "Dawn, I need you..." he nearly pleaded with her, making her feel his absence even more. The brunette hung up and automatically curled in upon herself, still clutching her cell phone and ignoring the many calls that followed. She began to sob quietly, long into the night alone and hurting.

**A/N: Sorry it took me so long to write this. I was having a bit of trouble connecting to this chapter but I think I managed it finally. Hope you enjoy. Reviews are candy... feed me please! :D **


	17. Chapter 17

The sun was shining lighting Buffy's room in a golden glow as she happily snuggled closer to Ric. He squeezed her shoulders sleepily and pressed a light kiss to her forehead. Getting up to take her shower she reflected on how her life had changed over the last year. She couldn't believe she had found such happiness and with no impending apocalypse to ruin it too. Ric really was the perfect man.

There was something up with Ric, Dawn thought as she finished brushing her teeth that morning and it was about time she figured out what it was. She had just come out of her bedroom to see Ric packing up his bag in their living room. "Hey Dawn, you want a ride to school? I was just heading there," he greeted her with his usual friendly smile. Buffy shot Dawn her hopeful 'I'm-happy-and-hope-you'll-help-me make-this-work-smile' from over her coffee cup.

Dawn nodded slowly, this would be the perfect opportunity for them to have a chat alone. "Yah, I'd like that," she agreed and picked up her bag.

Twenty minutes later Dawn looked over at Ric for what had to be the fiftieth time since they left the apartment. "So its Buffy birthday party tonight? Do you think I should bring her anything other than her presents? You know, like flowers?" he asked somewhat nervously.

"Flowers might be good, I don't think a guy's ever brought her flowers," Dawn filled in. After a long pause she finally decided to jump into the subject she'd been wondering about since the night before, "so... kill any good vampires lately?"

Ric swerved on the rode slightly before looking at her in wonder, unsure of how the teen knew his secret. "So you know what Damon is?"

"Damon, yes..." she paused studying her teacher and possible future brother-in-law. "You, I'm not so sure about."

"Me?" he asked incredulously. The teen nodded solemnly, "in my experience nice normal guys don't go around killing vampires, Ric."

"Yah, well I've had to adapt to fit the world around me..." he conceded. "So no secret army troop thing then?" she asked staring at the glove box in deep thought.

"What?" he questioned. "Look my wife came here for a small vacation three years ago and to finish dealing with her recently deceased grandfather's estate. She was supposed to be gone only a few short weeks but then, she never came home. I found out shortly after that a vampire had been seen with her just before she vanished. Now there I was, nice normal guy, husband, school teacher, and then suddenly there are vampires. At first I didn't believe it, but then one night I got drunk started to stumble out of a bar and one attacked me. I learned everything I could about them, learned to fight them, learned to kill them. And since I've come here I've been looking for the vampire that murdered my wife. That doesn't make me a bad person Dawn."

Dawn shook her head at him, "so your wife dies and you decide to turn all suicidal? Cause that's what this is, you know."

"Suicidal? You're one to talk, Damon did kill you. Or don't you remember?" he pointed out somewhat angrily.

Her own angry gaze flashed towards him, remembering the pain she'd felt when he called her last night. "What does Damon have to do with any of this?"

Ric shot her a dirty look before swiftly pulling off the crowded Roman street and slammed on his breaks causing Dawn to have to catch herself on the dash board to keep from smacking her head on it. "Damon murdered my wife! I've spent the last three years searching for her, because of him!" he yelled at her.

Dawn took a deep breath, she had never seen him get even remotely angry before. With a frown she began, "if he murdered her then why have you been searching for her?"

"They've never found a body... anywhere," he sighed quietly.

"Oh," she answered equally quiet. "What's your wife's name?"

He looked up, gray-blue eyes raking across her delicate profile, "Isobel."

She nodded again, "I can try to find out where she might be."

"You should stay away from Damon, for Buffy's sake," he replied, clearly knowing how she planned to find out about his wife. "I can deal with him on my own."

"You go running in there and you _will_ die. For Buffy's sake, let me try first," she nearly pleaded.

"You already died once because of him," he groaned.

"I died because of me," she whispered and stared at her lap.

Slowly Ric pulled back onto the road and back into traffic. The rest of the drive was made in silence until he finally broke it again after parking in his assigned parking spot. "You won't tell Buffy about this will you?"

Dawn looked up at him blue eyes hardening but not harsh, "no, that's your job... But she will eventually find out."

Ric thought for a moment wondering if Buffy knew what Damon was too, "how does she know about vampires?"

"That's between the two of you," the brunette answered before getting out and heading to class without another look back.

After school Marcus ran to catch up with his usually perky and fun loving girlfriend from America. "Hey bambina," he greeted given her a soft peck on the cheek and casually throwing his arm around her leather clad shoulder. How she could wear a leather jacket in the sunny Roman weather was beyond him but she had a style all her own.

"Hi," she grinned allowing him to walk with her down the busy street.

"You're mind seems else where again," he gestured with his hands to mean out in the world.

Dawn nodded and he dropped his arm from around her shoulders to hold her hand, smiling slightly inside when she let him. "Yah, I was just talking to Ric about his wife from you know, before this morning... Kind of just got me down I guess."

Marcus laid a small kiss on the back of her hand, "I'm sorry bambina. Perhaps there is time for me to cheer you up by taking you to the cinema before Buffy's party tonight?"

Dawn stopped and shook her head after a moment of silence. "Rain check? I have to go see a friend for a little bit but we could probably go tomorrow..."

"Alright," he sighed an let go of her hand. "See you at the party tonight."

Damon lay half drunk sprawled across his couch in the living room thinking over the last several months since he had met Dawn Summers. Four tall pale brunette were dancing and laughing a few feet away, his attempts at replacing her. It was better than the pain that had nearly swallowed him last night when Dawn had refused to speak with him, after all he could almost smell she sweet scent of lilacs and blackberries now.

"Nice clones," she said from the door way making Damon sit up slowly and give her a smirk in greeting. Raking her icy over the half dressed girls scathingly she said bluntly, "get out."

One of the stupider girls shut off the radio and stepped towards Dawn, one hand on her curvy hip, "you can't just come in here and order us about girly. We all got share."

Damon smirked even more still watching every move his beautiful girl made, "yes she can. Get out." The girls shot them both dirty looks but finally gathered their discarded clothes and shoes and left.

Leading his ex-lover upstairs and to his bedroom so he could get dressed she asked, "you got plans with more clones tonight?"

"No, I have a party to go to," he slurred a bit drunkenly as he pulled a fresh black button up shirt on and proceeded to fumble with the buttons. After a moment he sighed and motioned towards his shirt, "help a fella out?" Stepping forward her lithe fingers quickly began working the many buttons into their proper slots for him. "So what brings to my door now... pumpkin belly?"

Still seeming to focus all her attention on his shirt the brunette fought to not cringe at the nick name. "Thought perhaps we could make another deal..."

"A deal?"

"Well and exchange of information at any rate," she nodded and glanced up at him meeting his gaze for the first time since her arrival. She looked so tired and... sad.

Damon swallowed past the small lump in his throat, "oh. And what would you like to know? Or is that you just want access to my library again?"

Dawn looked back down as she moved further down his shirt, buttoning as she went. "The only reason I'm here talking to you is because I'm trying to help a friend."

His own blue eyes narrowed and he leaned forward sniffing her hair a bit. "Your friend? You mean Marcus," he said disdainfully. "You stink of him you know... Trying to seduce information out of me like this..."

She cut his angry speech off, "seduce you? Lets get one thing straight here Damon, I will never willingly touch you again." After pausing for a moment to allow the harshness of her words to sink in she continued. "And secondly, Ric's the friend I'm here for. If it were Marcus I would have said _boyfriend_, which he is."

It felt like his heart had somehow clenched together as tight as it could go, a cold lump in his chest. "Oh, oh," he stuttered out. "So you two are friends now?"

Dawn raised an eyebrow at this, "you and Buffy aren't?"

"You're right we are _very_ good friends," he leered suggestively. "Now what did you want to know?"

Taking a step back, finished with his shirt she squared off with him. "Isobel."

"Sorry don't know her," he answered immediately.

"Think hard," she responded somewhat forcibly. "She was Ric's wife, she came here to finish finalizing the details of her grandfather's estate. Several people saw her leave a bar with you and she never made it home Damon. I already checked and no body belonging to a woman fitting her description was found in any of the usual spots you dump the bodies of women you've drained. So where is she?"

He found himself in utter shock, he had never told Dawn or really anyone except for Michael about his various dump sites. "You know about my drop spots?" Then quietly he answered his own question, "wait of course you do, you're a watcher."

"No, I've seen them," she answered.

"Seen them?" he frowned.

Taking a seat on the edge of his bed and idly picking at the covers Dawn thought over how to say it. "Ever since... ever since that night I've been getting... glimpses of you... your life... the things you've done."

Damon swallowed the dread he felt knowing what she had surely seen, "oh god."

The young girl nodded and rose from her seat on the bed, "yah, well nothing to do bout that... Think about what I said and let me know what you remember." With that she left him once more.

Buffy was pacing the kitchen trying to finish getting dinner ready while she talked to her best friend Willow over the phone. "Thanks for calling Will, you hear from Xander lately?" Laughing at what her red headed friend said she stirred the pasta sauce she was cooking and nodded. "Yah, apparently he met some Renee chick there in Africa but hasn't asked her out yet I guess."

"Hey, I looked over that sample of Dawnie's blood for you," Willow offered. "What'd you find?" the blond asked worried.

"It seems her body had merged with the vampire blood."

"What's that mean for those of who are dumb?" Buffy asked.

Willow used her resolve voice, "you're not dumb, dummy. And what it means is that physically Dawn is more vampire than human now. She should be stronger, not a strong as you or even the average vamp but its still there. Speed and healing should be upped too. She might even have an almost psychic bond to that vampire... Buffy," she paused. "I still can't believe it, I mean Dawn having sex with someone like that... I mean, she always had a crush on Spike but I thought she was over that phase."

Buffy sighed and took a seat a one of the kitchen chairs, running her fingers through her long tousled hair. "I know Will, but I don't think its just him. She has a boyfriend too you know."

"What's he like?" the witch asked excitedly.

"Nice, normal... human... but sometimes she just seems so miserable. And then I think back to the times I've seen her with Damon..."

The red head interrupted, "Damon? Wait Buffy you met the vampire? Is he cute?"

"A freaking Adonis, but Will that's not the point. She was happy. I'm starting to think that maybe I've just be avoiding seeing her for who she really is." Buffy sighed and looked up as Ric let himself in, cake and present in hand.

"I know its so hard to think of her growing up," Will agreed.

After dropping his armload off on the kitchen island Ric waved and Buffy smiled waving back. "Oh my guest are arriving," the blond put in.

The other woman laughed across the phone line, "you mean your hot new boyfriend."

Buffy's smile only got bigger, "yep."

"Love you, Buffy. Have a happy birthday," Willow said.

"Thanks Will, love you too," the slayer grinned and hung up.

Ric walked over and gave her a gentle kiss on the cheek, "hey. That somebody trying to steal you away?"

Laughing Buffy reassured him, "no, Will is as in Willow, my best friend. She was just calling to wish me a happy birthday."

"That was sweet of her," he agreed moving to finish making dinner for her.

Buffy got up and wrapped her arms around her boyfriends muscled waist, hugging him from behind. "So, what'd you get me?" He laughed and handed her the gift he'd brought in.

Just outside the apartment Marcus stood hand poised to knock when Dawn rounded the corner from the elevators greeting him. "Did you finish what you set out to do, bella?" he asked as she finished tucking her cell phone back in her bag.

"Yah, as much as I could," together they walked into the apartment to see Buffy with her arms around Ric, kissing him. "Ew..." Dawn teased her older sister while grinning happily.

Half an hour later Andrew had come home and the party was in full gear. Everyone getting dinner put together and chatting jovially. Ric pulled Dawn aside while Buffy chatted up both Marcus and Andrew. "You find anything?"

The brunette shook her head and sipped her small glass of wine, "I'm working on it."

Just then the older sister broke away from her previous conversation and came to join them. "Working on what?" she asked perkily.

"The subject for my history paper," the younger woman lied easily. "We ready for cake yet?"

"Not quite," the blond answered. "We're still one guest short."

Looking around Dawn was confused, everyone was there as far as she knew. "Who?"

A knock sounded on the door almost on cue and Andrew went to answer it. Just inside the doorway Damon stood wearing the shirt Dawn had buttoned him into with black pants, and holding a bouquet of wild flowers and gift bag. He grinned, and Buffy and offered her the flowers and gift. "Thanks for inviting me."

When they were all sitting down to eat Dawn found herself squished between Marcus and Damon, with Ric sitting across from her ex-lover. She could nearly groan from the tension pouring through the room. "So how have you been Damon?" Marcus questioned, making an attempt at casual conversation. "Its been awhile since I've seen you around."

The vampire looked past Dawn to her obnoxious boyfriend, "I'm good. Been going to a few bars recently." Turning to face Ric again, "you know I think I met your wife in a bar once... She was... delicious," he purred spitefully. Ric visibly tensed at the conversation squeezing the fork he'd been holding to the point of nearly bleeding. Buffy had paled and Andrew was watching them carefully.

Dawn whispered from her seat, "get out Damon." Buffy opened her mouth to tell her not to be rude but the brunette waved the admonishment off. "No," then looking towards the pale man next to her, "leave."

Damon finished his glass of wine slowly, "and your side of the agreement?"

She groaned, "I translated what the monk said, he said 'it was to protect her.' Now get out." He nodded and left. Marcus gently rubbed her back with a confused expression. After a moment of tense silence filling the house another knock sounded at the door. "Oh what fresh hell is this?" Dawn sighed.

Buffy nervously got up to answer the door. A tall tan man with sandy brown hair and hazel eyes stood staring at the blond. "Hope I'm not too late for the party," he smiled.

The short woman beamed with delight while Dawn paled behind her. "Dad."

**A/N: Sorry it took me so long to write this chapter. Been having some serious writer's block issues. Probably going to take a somewhat extended break from writing this and work on something else. Thanks to all my readers and reviewers and don't worry I will come back to this. **


	18. Chapter 18

After their father had left to go back to his hotel room for the evening Buffy confronted Dawn on just what had happened at dinner between Ric and Damon. "What was that?" the blond slayer asked.

Dawn swallowed and shuffled her books back into her messenger bag as she carefully thought over a possible answer. Finally she simply told the truth, "it's an issue between Ric and Damon."

Taking a seat on the edge of Dawnie's bed, Buffy picked at the violet comforter and thought of how to get them back to good again. "I know things have been tense between us these last few weeks... But I... Please Dawn can we just be okay again?" Her face was filled with the pain and tension she'd been feeling these last few weeks.

The brunette girl sat next to her older sister on the bed, "we are okay Buffy. No matter how pissed we might get at each other, we'll always be sisters."

Buffy started crying and nearly crumbled as the younger woman wrapped her into a hug. "I lost you, and I was so scared and then you wouldn't talk to me. I thought you hated me," she sobbed and let her sister rock her smaller frame.

"I could never hate you," Dawn whispered into her sisters hair.

Damon stood in the shadows of the youngest Summer's bedroom later that night watching her stare at the ceiling until finally she spoke. "You know, what you did to Ric earlier at dinner was just plain cruel."

He nodded slowly in the dark, still slightly tipsy from drinking so much earlier that evening. "Yeah, I know it was."

Sitting up in bed she studied him, "are you drunk?"

"Little bit," he responded holding up a thumb and forefinger.

Sighing she pulled back the covers and scooted over, "get in." Damon crossed the room, slipping out of his jacket and kicking off his shoes before climbing in next to her. Once he had settled down and they lay side by side facing one another in the darkened room she spoke again. "I'm not going to break up with Marcus just because I slept with you, Damon."

Stroking a line down her back gently he swallowed thickly, "I know. What did that mean? The thing the monk said about protecting her?"

Dawn rolled onto her back and tried to ignore the feel of him pressed against her side. "I don't know, Damon. I'll come over tomorrow and see what I can find out, okay."

He nuzzled against the side of her throat, wrapping his arms close around her. "You're still going to help me?"

"Yeah," she sighed.

After sometime in the quiet dark together with his arms wrapped around her slender waist the pretty young brunette spoke again. "My dad showed up today, we were expecting him but..." she shrugged slightly.

Damon squeezed her gently and placed a small kiss on the back of her neck. "I'm sorry, I know he wasn't there for you when you needed him to be. My dad was the same way."

"You're dad was a senator," she whispered.

"You saw that?" he questioned with a slight smirk.

Turning over her pale blue eyes met his own, "Katherine too. She was very pretty and... just... You love her."

The Immortal swallowed thickly, "I did but.. Why wasn't she there? Why hasn't she said anything after all this time?"

"I don't Damon, and all of this... It would be easier if we had those answers," Dawn admitted.

"I'm so sorry," he pleaded, his cool breath brushing against her face.

She could feel his forehead pressed against her own and see the outline of his chiseled jaw in the moonlight. "Lets just get some sleep Damon, we can work on the rest of this tomorrow," the ex-watcher finally sighs.

His long fingered hand stroked through her hair turning her further to face him. Dawn could feel it coming even before his lips brushed lightly against her own. But she jerked her head away before he could deepen the kiss any further. "I can't do this, I won't," she protested rolling onto her other side, putting her back to him. He frowned and snuggled closer to her yet again, spooning against her. "I have too many issues with men leaving me, and you're just another name on that list now. It takes time to heal," she whispered in the dark.

Wrapping his arms around her waist and placing gentle kisses against the back of her neck instead he relaxed into her. "Fair enough, but I'm still gonna hold you."

"Okay," Dawn whispered.

Sunlight was shimmering through the windows when Dawn finally woke up the next morning. Damon's arms were still wrapped around her as he slept peaceful for the first time since the night they had slept together. Looking up at him from her where her head rested on his shoulder the young Summers woman reflected on how different her life had become since meeting him. In the last year she had gone from being the semi-useless research expert helping to fight a war that was never her own, to ex-watcher and supreme screw up, cheat, and all around liar. _Good move Dawn_, she thought to herself almost angrily.

A knock sounded on her door causing her to jerk her head in that direction. Carefully untucking herself from Damon's embrace she unfolded her long limbs and went to open her bedroom door. Just before opening it though she turned to where her lover had been asleep in her bed only to find him gone. A quick search of her surroundings found him on the fire escape just outside, flashing her a wink before disappearing into the early light of day.

Shaking her head Dawn finally answered her door to a smiling sister. "Jeez, were you sleeping still?" the blond perkily asked.

"Uh, yeah," the brunette nodded somewhat drearily.

"Well hurry up and get ready, we're meeting Dad for breakfast," Buffy admonished before bouncing off again.

An hour later found the sisters and their absentee father sitting at the very cafe Damon had first joined Dawn at. The waiters there had immediately brought the pretty brunette her usual espresso and croissant, giving Buffy and Hank curious stares. Once the two new guests had ordered they had begun some light chatter amongst themselves, nearly forgetting the younger girl.

After half and hour Hank finally set his light brown eyes on his youngest offspring. "So Dawn," she looked up from her coffee to meet his gaze. "Have you been feeling alright since your accident? I understand it was quite serious." When she didn't answer for a long moment he continued on, "no mental duress or any other...em... changes?"

Finally she responded to him with a cold level voice, "why? Do you want to lock me up in asylum like you did Buffy?"

Buffy quickly admonished her younger sister, not understanding the younger woman's hostility. Dawn however only stared silently at her plate but didn't move to apologize what so ever for the harsh comment. Buffy shook her head, "I'm gonna go to the bathroom." Then looking back at her sister's slouched form she tried to stress her next words. "Try to get along, _please_."

Hank slowly reached his large tanned hand across the small cafe table to grip that of his youngest daughter. "I'm sorry if you mistook me honey, I'm just really worried about you. Is it so wrong for me to want you safe?"

Pulling her hand away she shook her head, "maybe you should have considered that three years ago when Mom died. Buffy and I have had plenty of accidents since then." Standing up she threw down enough euros to cover half their bill, Hank was about to stop her when she looked at him in utter disdain. "Don't worry, Buffy and I are used to splitting the bills since all we have is each other."

When the petite blond stepped out of the bathroom it was to see her younger sister throwing down some money and walking out. Shaking her head slightly she returned to their table.

"I just keep messing up with you two," Hank told her almost sadly.

Buffy shrugged, "she'll be okay."

Chuckling lightly he nodded, "I know, she's strong. You both are, but God knows you didn't get it from me." After pausing Mr. Summers affirmed, "I'm so proud of you both, Buffy."

This comment left the eldest of his daughters smiling, but he interrupted their happy moment. "Now I have to go to a business meeting but I'll be by later tonight," standing up he paid the rest of the bill himself.

"Okay, Dad," she nodded grabbing her coat.

Damon was sober for the first time in over a month and was finally seeking the assistance of his lawyer. For the unlife of him he couldn't remember the small mouthy Asian man's name though. He was about to get back on the elevator after asking the man to find out if there had been any sightings of his wayward sire when a tall tan man with sandy brown hair walked past. Immediately Damon paused, catching the scent of lilac's and blackberries clinging to the man's skin along with another familiar and yet implacable scent.

Once the man had passed he turned back to his still prattling geek of a lawyer, "who was that man just now?"

"Oh," the idiot smiled and nodded. "That's Hank Summers, he's the CEO of our Madrid division. He's just in town visiting his daughters." When Damon looked back at the man with a slightly raised brow. "I... I could introduce you though," he stuttered out nervously.

Damon knew he frightened the little worm of a man and ususally he enjoyed playing on that fear, today however he was feeling less patient. "Daughters?" he drawled tiredly.

The lawyer chuckled nervously and scratched the back of his head, "yeah, his eldest is a slayer of all things. Talk about irony."

"And the other?" Damon pushed on with a smirk and quirked brow.

The idiot only shook his head, "just a girl, I guess. Nobody important."

"Hmm," the vampire answered shortly before stepping onto the elevator alone.

Dawn found herself back in her library the next night and had to admit, if only to herself that she had missed this space. She and Damon were nestled away in the upstairs section he had previously devoted to Katherine, reviewing everything they had found so far. He was pacing, scotch in hand as she lay on her stomach, head propped up in her hands reading through her earlier notes.

Damon couldn't help but think that she looked entirely too sweet, whimsical, and just plain sexy in that pose. Shaking his head he paced the length of the room again only to find himself turning to look at the extremely tempting curve of her backside. Moving to face her once more he decided that perhaps talking instead of just watching her would prove to be a safer route.

"Did you know," he asked, swirling his drink slowly. "That your father is the CEO of the Madrid offices of Wolfram&Hart?"

Looking up she half way nodded very slowly, "I knew he was a lawyer there, but the promotions new... Buffy doesn't though. She still has delusions of Dad being a descent human being."

Damon only pointed out, "being human doesn't make you descent." Her blue eyes only met his calmly without any denial of that simple truth. He continued on after a short pause, "what's he doing here?"

Sitting up she shrugged and then tiredly rolled her shoulders, "supposedly he's here checking up on us and visiting."

"You don't believe it?" the vampire pointed out.

Standing up Dawn took his drink from his hands and took a long pull on it before handing the glass back empty. "With Dad... never."

Across town Hank Summers was walking through the myriad and maze of streets and alleys that comprised the Roman city. Shadows seemed to be chasing his every step, as if sensing them the older man picked up his pace. After a few moments he was a at near run from the perpetual darkness that seemed to be stalking him. Finally turning a corner only two blocks from his daughters' apartment. Sighing a heavy startled breath he stopped suddenly, seeing the lithe figure emerging from the darkness. It was a beautiful, olive skinned beauty; young, far too young for him. She had a long dark shock of silken hair and almond eyes that smiled wickedly at him. "Katherine," he sighed in relief.

"Hello Hank," she cooed gently before stepping from the darkness to wrap her thin arms around his neck and lock lips with him passionately.


End file.
